Public funding for mental health services is a federal government initiative to provide targeted funding patients with mental health conditions. The federal-state Medicaid and federal Medicare programs are important foundations for public financing for mental health amenities (Garfield, 2011). It provides the largest funding for states to help them in the implementation of effective screening and treatment services to patients with mental health conditions through the reduction of expensive hospitalization costs. The essence underlying the public funding of mental health is fortified with the enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) which aims to improve fairness, value and accessibility of health insurance coverage for all Americans. This helps to ensure that a wider scope of under privileged individuals is covered which plays a major role in the goal of attaining universal healthcare for Americans.
Private funding for mental health services mostly entails payments being made from private insurance; which may be either employer or self-sponsored, and from the patient’s pocket. It may also further include philanthropy; crowd sourced funding or respective charities. The coverage of mental health services through private funding however is marred with multiple issues due to its limiting factor arising from its exclusivity and high premium costs. These issues have been addresses in the PPACA through initiation of premium and cost sharing appropriations which resulted in a major shift in the rules of the health insurance industry. Owing to the fact that it makes insurance cover a permissible necessity for U.S. citizens, it helps fortify existing coverage while putting in place a new as well as affordable health cover market for afflicted patients and their families (Rosenbaum, 2011).
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For the average American family, the public funding of mental health services would be a better option. This is mainly due to the high level of investment made to into researching and implementation of efficient treatments. Private funding may be a viable option for individuals who are well off and can manage to keep up with the potential high costs that may be incurred in the treatment and care of mental health patients.
References
Garfield, R. L., Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured., & Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2011). Mental health financing in the United States: A primer . Menlo Park, Calif: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
Cummings, J. N., Butler, B., & Kraut, R. (2002). The quality of online social relationships. Communications of the ACM, 45 (7), 103-108.
Rosenbaum, S. (2011). The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: implications for public health policy and practice. Public health reports , 126 (1), 130-135.
