Clinton proposes better integration of physical, mental health services

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Millions of Americans struggle with mental illnesses, and many within the healthcare industry maintain that community resources for their care are limited. Now, Hillary Clinton is calling for the mental and physical spheres of healthcare to coordinate to put “the treatment of mental health on par with that of physical health.”

Clinton’s campaign on Monday released a detailed list of policy proposals to improve mental healthcare. Her plan, according to a fact sheet posted to her campaign’s website, includes six key points:

  • Put a focus on early diagnosis and prevention, including a national initiative for suicide prevention
  • Combine mental health and physical health more fully, so that the healthcare system focuses on care for the “whole person”
  • Better train law enforcement officers to handle mental health crises
  • Continued enforcement of mental health parity laws
  • Promote access to jobs and housing for people with mental illnesses
  • Invest in research to find new treatments

“Demand for mental health services far outpaces supply, and our health care system lacks the treatment infrastructure and behavioral health workforce necessary to provide adequate care,” the fact sheet notes. The Clinton campaign says that this lack of needed services leads general practitioners and other healthcare providers to shoulder much of the burden in treating mental health issues.

To promote this integration, Clinton proposes an expansion of current Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement offerings for collaborative care models. These partnerships between payers and providers improve care and satisfaction across healthcare, according to the campaign, so it’s important that they unite. To further integrate physical health and mental health, Clinton proposes that state Medicaid programs lift restrictions that prevent payouts for both mental and physical health services to the same person on the same day.

Clinton also proposes creating community health centers across the country that would provide both behavioral and physical health services.

Telemedicine can also help intervene in potential mental health crises and promote better care coordination, according to the fact sheet. To that end, Clinton is proposing an adjustment to the payment settings for Medicare and Medicaid that would allow providers to be reimbursed for telepsychiatry or other telehealth services.

Of the major candidates running for president this fall, Clinton’s campaign is the only one so far to release policy proposals for mental health patients, according to a contributed article in Forbes. Republican candidate Donald Trump is calling for reform of mental health programs, and says there are “promising” options, but his agenda does not offer specifics, the article notes.