Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 22, 1994 TAG: 9405230099
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By AMY FORSYTH-STEPHENS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Mental Health Association of the New River Valley, a nonprofit, volunteer-based organization serving Montgomery, Giles, Pulaski and Floyd counties and Radford, is working to defend and protect a nondiscriminatory mental health benefit as part of comprehensive health care reform.
For too long, people with mental illnesses and their families have been forgotten in the advancement of a national health care policy. Although statistics show that mental illnesses are just as debilitating as physical illnesses and often are more effectively treated, illnesses of the mind still do not receive equitable coverage by insurance companies. Under President Clinton's plan, insurance companies would no longer be able to deny coverage on the basis of pre-existing condition, and lifetime limits on mental health services would be eliminated. Parity between coverage of mental and physical health would be achieved in the year 2001.
Volunteers and staff of the Mental Health Association, along with local mental health professionals and community members, are conducting activities throughout May, designated as Mental Health Month, to focus attention on the mental health care needs of local citizens.
Last year more than 3,300 people in the New River Valley received treatment through public mental health services. This number does not count all those who received mental health treatment through physicians and hospitals paid for by insurance or through counseling by clergy or support groups.
Over 11,000 people in the valley also made emergency contacts for mental health treatment last year through RAFT and other emergency counseling services.
The Mental Health Association is working with community education programs, volunteer services, and local, state and national advocacy campaigns to raise awareness about the importance of including mental illnesses in the final health care reform plan. It is time to end the senseless debate about whether we can afford to cover mental illnesses as well as physical illnesses. We are already paying a high tab for not covering mental health care for all Americans.
The business community and others concerned about the costs of providing a nondiscriminatory mental health benefit should take a closer look at the true cost to business for not covering mental health. For example, of the $44 billion spent on clinical depression in this country, more than half is borne by employers, according to a recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The study shows that employees are paying $3,000 per depressed employee through lost days on the job, low productivity, hospitalization, even suicide. Clearly, depression is a major public health problem, affecting more than 15 million Americans over a lifetime. This makes depression more widespread than coronary heart disease (7 million), cancer (6 million) and AIDS (200,000).
The Mental Health Association of the New River Valley is committed to changing the way America, and the New River Valley, think about mental health and mental illness. Our directors are local citizens dedicated to promoting mental health, preventing mental illness and improving treatment of the mentally ill. We offer community education and referral; advocacy for the mentally ill; and mental health research, prevention and treatment.
For information on the Mental Health Association or our analysis of the Clinton Mental Health Care Reform Plan and other plans introduced in Congress, please call 382-5629 or 1-800-559-2800.
Amy Forsyth-Stephens is executive director of the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley. She has worked with mental health issues for 12 years, including developing programs for the homeless mentally ill in Seattle. She moved to Blacksburg in 1989 with her husband and two daughters.
by CNB