General Mental Health Articles
- Even though one in five Americans lives with a mental illness, many feel it is not adequately addressed, with a survey from West Health and Gallup suggesting that three in four Americans believe mental health conditions are not identified and treated in the same way as physical health conditions. Roughly 60% of Americans give a poor grade to how mental health conditions are treated, according to the survey. The survey shows the impact of mental health challenges is significant, with 51% of people saying they experienced depression, anxiety, or another mental health condition in the past year. Read more here.
- North Carolinians in need of mental health support now have more places to call — and soon will have more places to go — for help. The state health department is investing more money in a greater array of mental health crisis services, including those run by peer support specialists. In addition to 988, North Carolina added a statewide Peer Warmline. A Warmline is a noncrisis mental health support line staffed by peer support specialists — people living in recovery from mental health problems who may have also experienced substance use, psychiatric hospitalization, homelessness, incarceration, or a combination of these. Read more here.
- The University of South Florida is creating a center to boost the state's mental health workforce amid a national shortage. The Legislature recently awarded USF $5 million in recurring funds to create the Florida Center for Behavioral Health Workforce, part of the Live Healthy package of bills that Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law last month. Nearly half of all Floridians live in an area that the federal government designates as having a shortage of mental health professionals. Read more here.
Youth Mental Health
- Across the U.S., a growing challenge to our children’s mental and physical well-being has been felt in every corner — while countless children and youth are fulfilled and thriving physically and mentally, so many are struggling. Thankfully, health systems like Nemours Children’s Health are working with federal lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in an effort to make a coordinated approach to children’s health care a reality. The bipartisan, bicameral Kickstarting Innovative Demonstrations Supporting Kids Health Act was introduced in the U.S. House and Senate. Read more here.
The Opioid Crisis and Addiction Issues
- California will provide first responders, universities, and other qualifying organizations with a generic version of Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal drug, for free, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced. CalRx’s Naloxone Access Initiative will buy over-the-counter naloxone for $24 a pack, which is about half the market price, from Amneal Pharmaceuticals, a New Jersey-based manufacturer, according to a news release from Newsom’s office. The deal enables the state to buy 3.2 million twin packs of the drug instead of the 2 million it bought at the previous price. Read more here.
Medicaid Policy
- The loss of Medicaid coverage among Americans eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid — known as dual-eligible beneficiaries — was substantially reduced during the COVID public health emergency due to temporary policy changes, according to a study in JAMA Network Open. More importantly, those policy changes, which prohibited the states from disenrolling people from Medicaid, reduced the pre-pandemic racial disparity in Medicaid coverage loss. About 12.5 million people in the U.S. are enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. This dual-eligible population mostly includes people with chronic conditions, physical disabilities, mental illness, and cognitive impairments such as dementia and developmental disabilities. Read more here.
Gender Affirming Care and LGBTQ Issues
- A nationwide survey by the Trevor Project, the nation's leading suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ youth, found that more than one in 10 young people in the United States who identify as LGBTQ attempted suicide in 2023. The survey, which focuses on the mental health of LGBTQ young people, included responses from 18,000 people aged 13 to 24, according to a news release announcing the findings. Despite these risks, half of LGBTQ youth who wanted mental health care could not get it, the survey found. Read more here.
- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) updated the federal workplace guidelines after a quarter of a century to protect pronouns, bathrooms, and abortion. The new guidance, released by the federal agency, fortified transgender employees’ rights such as being protected from misgendering and using the bathroom that matches their gender identity. Employees not complying with the guidelines are committing unlawful workplace harassment. Read more here.
- Rebecca and David Bell sat together in the front row, her hand on his knee. They burst into tears as they watched a legislative committee vote to begin ripping away essential therapy from their transgender daughter. They are among dozens, if not hundreds, of families in South Carolina that could be forced to leave the state to continue the care their children rely on as they transition. If passed, all treatment and therapy for transgender youth would be legally barred in South Carolina. Read more here.
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