Contact Communications@thenationalcouncil.org or 202.684.7457, ext. 228.

Washington, DC, April 2, 2009 — Patients’ difficulty in accessing basic medical care, coupled with increasing state budget cuts to mental health services, has perpetrated a crisis in America’s public mental health system, leading to a shocking increase in mortality rates and a steep increase in social and economic costs.

Mental health providers and patients provided first-hand insights into the public mental health crisis — and suggested solutions — at a congressional staff briefing sponsored by Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and conducted by the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare on March 31.

“I lived for more than 30 years with undiagnosed bipolar disorder. The disease affected me in every way, nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen,” said Malkia Maisha Newman, a community educator for Community Network Services in Farmington Hills, Michigan who shared her story at the briefing. “It wasn’t until I was able to get services through the community mental health system that my life began to change,” she added.

Newman explained that the treatment and supports she received through the Oakland County Community Mental Health Authority System helped her get better, get a job, and be a productive member of society. She lamented that others like her might be denied access to treatment and support as funding for community mental health services is being cut. The savings from these cuts are negligible, compared to the long-term savings we can realize from early intervention and prevention, she emphasized. 

“When services are cut, the people who are ill do not magically disappear,” said Linda Rosenberg, National Council president and CEO who moderated the briefing. “Withdrawing vital community-based mental health services results in costly outcomes — placement in high cost hospitals and nursing homes, homelessness, incarceration, and even death.”

As many as 32 states are enacting mental health funding cuts — reducing services, closing programs, imposing hiring freezes, and cutting or freezing provider reimbursement rates. Despite the  crises, community mental health organizations — the frontline safety net providers — are struggling to meet the increasing need for mental health services, exacerbated by the economic downturn.

“In the past 8 months we have experienced a 14 percent increase in demand for our mental health services — compared to a typical annual increase of 4 to 5 percent. At the same time, we expect to lose $500,000 in state support this year,” said Cindy Kaestner, Executive Director of the Abbe Center for Community Mental Health in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Erosion of public funding erodes the safety net that the Abbe Center provides for the community’s most vulnerable citizens, added Kaestner.

In addition to funding cuts, the briefing highlighted a parallel crisis — studies show that people with serious metal illness will not live much beyond their 50th birthday The high mortality rates are being caused primarily by co-occurring chronic diseases such as asthma, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and cardiopulmonary conditions for which access to care is severely limited and fragmented.

Overcoming the early mortality crisis requires community mental health organizations to also provide basic medical care for their patients with serious mental illness. The medical home model, which seeks to establish a coordinated treatment team that provides comprehensive care to those in need at the right time and right place, must be applied to mental health patients.

“Community health centers are often funded to provide behavioral health services onsite but now there is an urgent need to bring primary care to mental health settings,” said Helen Royal, Behavioral Health Services Director for Summit Community Care Clinic in Frisco, Colorado.

Royal, along with Karen Wyatt, Medical Director for Summit Community Clinic, pleaded for public funding to transition from fragmented to total healthcare. At Summit County, the intense coordination of medical and behavioral healthcare as well as social supports has enabled recovery and inclusion in community life for many.

Jeff Capobianco, director of research for Washtenaw Community Health Organization in Ypsilanti, Michigan, endorsed the call for integrated care and shared the successful model his organization has implemented. Application of the medical home concept to individuals with serious mental illness has improved access to care and continuity of care while facilitating essential information sharing between a patient’s various healthcare providers, he explained.

Increased public funding is critical to comprehensive healthcare programs that can save lives and demonstrate positive outcomes. The National Council urged Congress to support a $35 million expansion of the federal government’s integrated mental health/primary care program as well as a $250 million Medicaid demonstration program to support healthcare homes for persons with serious mental illness.

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare is a not-for- profit, 501(c)(3) association of 1,600 behavioral healthcare organizations that provide treatment and rehabilitation for mental illnesses and addictions disorders to nearly six million adults, children and families in communities across the country. The National Council and its members bear testimony to the fact that medical, social, psychological and rehabilitation services offered in community settings help people with mental illnesses and addiction disorders recover and lead productive lives.