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Fight Against Threats to Behavioral Heath Funding
The Trump presidency and Republican control of the Congress may do great damage to the already inadequate American mental health system by repealing the Affordable Care Act, eliminating Medicaid as an entitlement, privatizing Medicare, and limiting the authority of the states to regulate health...
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The NYSPA Report: Taking Stock and Taking Leave
Advocacy must be unending, ongoing work because there is always more to accomplish and always the danger that hard-won gains may be undone. For the past 14 years I have either written or edited the work of guest columnists for the quarterly NYSPA Report in Behavioral Health News (BHN) or in Mental...
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Consumer Perspectives on Change: for Better or for Worse
We were asked to consider whether changes in the way we receive and respond to behavioral health services has been for better or for worse, now that Medicaid Managed Care is the order of the day. It was a tough conversation because at the beginning, some of us really felt like we hadn’t even...
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The Presidential Election: Time for Behavioral Health Advocates to Speak Out
The next President of the United States can act to improve or to harm the American mental health system. Behavioral health advocates should speak out now to provide the political pressure that will be needed to improve rather than to harm the system. Preserve The Affordable Care Act Perhaps the...
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Becoming a Millennial Nonprofit
Health and human services nonprofits across the country are in the midst of a developmental crisis. Taking a page from Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development our sector is in the “industry vs. inferiority” stage battling with the question “Can my organization make it in the world of...
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NYSPA Report: Raise the Age of Jurisdiction
An important part of the mission of the New York State Psychiatric Association is its work to assure the incorporation of good, up to date science into public policy as well as its work to protect vulnerable populations. NYSPA’s advocacy for raising the age of criminal responsibility in New York...
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Adapting to System Reform
This article is the first in a quarterly series giving voice to the perspectives of individuals with lived experiences as they share their opinions on a particular topic. The authors of this column facilitated a focus group of their peers to inform this writing. The authors are served by SUS...
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Make a 2016 Resolution to Talk About Mental Illness: Your Story Could Change a Life
As we look to the new year and the resolutions we can make to improve our lives and the lives of others, Beacon Health Options (Beacon) urges you to resolve to break the silence and stamp out the stigma around mental illnesses. Talk about it; your story could change a life. Today, Beacon, the...
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The NYSPA Parity Enforcement Project: New Tools for Patients and Providers in The Fight Against Parity
The passage of the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) represented a landmark moment for those fighting for parity in behavioral health benefits. In the years since MHPAEA and its implementing regulations went into effect, many of the financial restrictions and...
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Point of View: Improving American Mental Health Policy
We mental health advocates all agree that America’s mental health system should be better. We do not all agree about how to make it better. That’s a problem. Our differences have contributed to a political standoff in Washington where efforts to bring about major changes in the nation’s...
