Mental Health Parity

Since the Federal government shutdown ended, America’s political class has struggled to accomplish something of consequence, let alone something bipartisan.  Thanks to the George W. Bush and Obama Administrations, individuals dealing with mental health and behavioral issues will see greater access to treatment.  Dysfunctional behavior, which stems from mental health and behavioral issues, undermines health, decision-making, relationships, community, financial responsibility, job performance, etc., thus increased treatment for these disorders is a win for everyone.  As such, mental health parity is a bipartisan goal that should be fully supported by everyone.  

That said, treating psychological issues equivalent to health issues will put a greater strain on an insufficient mental health system.  Consequently, it will be years before the healthcare industry can actually turn mental health parity into reality.  In all likelihood, it will require mental health professionals of differing levels of education to restructure how they interact with patients experiencing varying degrees of dysfunction.  Meanwhile, they also need to work diligently to develop more effective treatment methods that can more directly address the root causes of mental health issues with improved efficiencies for all income levels. 

Fortunately, addressing the ill-effects of dysfunctional behavior will help decrease the burden on the healthcare system and other social institutions as unhealthy behavior often results in health issues and socially destructive behavior.  Moreover, the public policies that allow for mental health parity are moving into place, yet it will take time and additional cooperation to ensure parity is reached.  Politicians should look to help speed up this transition by working to build on the policies that now exist.