Health Policy brief
Mental Health Today: Drug Coverage
Mental Health Today: Drug Coverage They are people you know—friends, family, co-workers, patients—and they need medication to live. Mental health disorders are everywhere in the United States today. The statistics are truly staggering. In the United States each year, one in four adults lives with a diagnosed mental disorder and one in sixteen adults suffer from a serious mental illness. Almost half of those diagnosed with a mental disorder also meet the criteria for other disorders, thus comorbidities are common in mental health patients.(NIMH, 2013) Given these statistics, it is essential that the healthcare community be able to care for those with mental illnesses. Many healthcare professionals are starting to accept these disorders, but there is still a stigma connected with mental illness.(Varcarolis & Halter, 2010) To help overcome this stigma, healthcare professionals need to make sure that they provide a high level of care for all their patients, including those with mental disorders.
One of the hot topics in mental health has to do with coverage of treatment, including pharmaceuticals. Mental illness is treated primarily through pharmaceutical means, and there are many drugs available for the patients. Depression has been shown to benefit from psychotherapy, but the psychotic disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, both need medications to be effectively managed. Evidence has shown that antipsychotics work the best to control the serious adverse effects of psychosis or mania.(Varcarolis & Halter, 2010) Treatment for a serious mental illness is lifelong and generally expensive. Also, each patient needs a drug regimen that is tailored specifically to them.(Varcarolis & Halter, 2010) (Leucht, et al., 2013) Those suffering from mental illness need insurance coverage in order to pay for their lifetime of medications, as well as to be able to try different medications
Mental Health Today: Drug Coverage They are people you know—friends, family, co-workers, patients—and they need medication to live. Mental health disorders are everywhere in the United States today. The statistics are truly staggering. In the United States each year, one in four adults lives with a diagnosed mental disorder and one in sixteen adults suffer from a serious mental illness. Almost half of those diagnosed with a mental disorder also meet the criteria for other disorders, thus comorbidities are common in mental health patients.(NIMH, 2013) Given these statistics, it is essential that the healthcare community be able to care for those with mental illnesses. Many healthcare professionals are starting to accept these disorders, but there is still a stigma connected with mental illness.(Varcarolis & Halter, 2010) To help overcome this stigma, healthcare professionals need to make sure that they provide a high level of care for all their patients, including those with mental disorders.
One of the hot topics in mental health has to do with coverage of treatment, including pharmaceuticals. Mental illness is treated primarily through pharmaceutical means, and there are many drugs available for the patients. Depression has been shown to benefit from psychotherapy, but the psychotic disorders, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, both need medications to be effectively managed. Evidence has shown that antipsychotics work the best to control the serious adverse effects of psychosis or mania.(Varcarolis & Halter, 2010) Treatment for a serious mental illness is lifelong and generally expensive. Also, each patient needs a drug regimen that is tailored specifically to them.(Varcarolis & Halter, 2010) (Leucht, et al., 2013) Those suffering from mental illness need insurance coverage in order to pay for their lifetime of medications, as well as to be able to try different medications