This infuriates me. The system is difficult and lacking already (at least in Utah) to make it worse should be illegal! I really wonder what this world is coming to!
The more I read on this forum about mental health care in the US, the more I’m so thankful I live in the UK.
Some say the UK National Health Service is a big part of what is termed the ‘nanny’ state, where government holds all the control. We have very little choice over who treats us or what medication we are given, but there is a very good complaints and objections process if we feel our care is not correct. Although there is some variation in the quality of care across the UK, often driven by budgets or resources, on the whole it’s fairly uniform. So the quality and type of care you receive in Newcastle, will be almost exactly the same as what you would receive in Plymouth.
In the US, from what I read about mental health care, there seem to be huge variations in the quality of care from state to state, too much choice of who provides the care and what medication you take, and so many health insurance providers and organisations trying to spend as little as they can on their ‘clients’.
From what I can see, I would say an overhaul of the US mental health care system is long overdue. There’s a lot I love about the US (I love your Chinese food, Lemonheads, service station French Vanilla Cappuccino, and Aunt Jemima waffle syrup), but for health care I’m very happy to be in the UK.
Latest news:
In a letter to the House, NAMI’s executive director Mary Giliberti wrote:
The proposed reforms in the AHCA threaten to undermine the historic progress being made to improve mental health and substance use care… NAMI is deeply concerned with proposed provisions to convert Medicaid financing into a per capita cap model…Current estimates are that the per capita cap provisions would shift an alarming $370 billion in Medicaid costs to states over the next ten years. In the face of budget shortfalls, states will be forced to cut people from coverage, reduce health benefits and access to care, and/or reduce already low provider payments, escalating our nation’s healthcare workforce crisis…