Solutions needed on mental health

If hundreds of men and women began showing up in Eastern Washington jails, emergency rooms and clinics, bleeding profusely from open sores, the health crisis would be tackled immediately. The blood would be so visible, and so obviously dangerous to the patients and others, there would be no question that the hemorrhaging must be stopped for the benefit of the entire community.

In the past two years, those in Eastern Washington who suffer chronic mental illness, and have no means to pay for treatment, have streamed into emergency rooms, clinics and corrections facilities. They end up there because inpatient and outpatient programs to treat the mentally ill have decreased due to budget crises at every government level. Soon, one more source of funding will dry up.

By July 1, the federal government will strictly enforce a rule that excludes non-Medicaid patients from receiving Medicaid-funded treatment. This means as many as 40,000 people in Washington state won’t be eligible for help. Though the majority of them live under the poverty level, they’ve failed to qualify for Medicaid, for a variety of reasons, or they’ve been unable to fill out the complex paperwork required, often because of their mental illnesses.

These clients are losing access to the community-based services that allow treatment to take hold, such as stable housing, counseling and medication. State mental health officials see the crisis escalating.

“It affects all of us as taxpayers,” said David Panken, CEO of Spokane Mental Health. “An investment in mental health dollars means a better return on everyone’s quality of life. These people’s mental illnesses are not going away. And if they are not cared for, it’s like diabetes or heart disease, it will cost a lot more in the long run.”

Panken and other state mental health officials are lobbying state of Washington leaders to make up the $82 million that will be lost because of the tightened Medicaid restrictions. The request does not come at a great time for a state that anticipates a $2.2 billion shortfall. Still, state leaders have recognized the urgency here. A bipartisan interim task force, made up of legislators and other government officials, concurs with mental health professionals that the state needs to cover the lost federal funding.

Some of the task force’s other recommendations are worth pursuing as soon as feasible. For instance, when men and women with mental illnesses are released from a state hospital or a corrections facility, their Medicaid applications should be expedited so they can receive treatment right away in the community. And the call for statewide mental health courts, where lawyers and judges are trained in the nuances of mental disease and treatment is the preferred sanction, could get at the root of this problem. These solutions require funding, too, but there are likely more options available to fund them, such as grants.

This mental health crisis, though invisible to some, is bleeding into every aspect of community life. It needs, and deserves, serious attention now.