By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Photo: Saul Loeb/Associated Press, Associated Press, March 3, 2022
President Joe Biden’s new plan to expand mental health and drug abuse treatment would pour hundreds of millions of dollars into suicide prevention, mental health services for youth, and community clinics providing 24/7 access to people in crisis.
Unveiled as part of his State of the Union speech, Biden’s plan seeks to shrink America’s chronic gap in care between diseases of the body and those of the mind. Health insurance plans would have to cover three mental health visits a year at no added cost to patients.
But for such a big move, Biden must win backing from lawmakers of both parties. Mental health and substance abuse are linked problems in every congressional district, with rising rates of depression and anxiety in the coronavirus pandemic. Some senior Republicans have expressed support in principle for government action, but it’s too early to say where they’ll end up.
Comments (0)