Online Discussions

Online Discussions

Discussion 1

The American health care system has been subjected to continuous changes from over a decade. These changes are in accordance with the advancements in the technology and increment in the health care exhibits a deep impact on it. There are many public and private organizations that are working to provide these individuals with maximum support and care. However, stigmatization related to mental health is a commonly indicated issue. The economic crisis is the major reason behind the mental health issues in the United States (Horowitz, 2012). Another major issue is the extremely high cost on the mental health care services, and the reimbursement rate is no satisfactory.

The government has taken a lot of steps to improve the coverage and reduce the mental health problems from the state. Medicare and Medicaid are providing the inpatient and outpatient mental health services now (Centres for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2012), but the coverage is still not satisfactory and the reimbursement is limited. More than half of the funding is done by the public sector while the private sectors, while the private insurance pay for around 47 percent. The major problem is not the funding but the expenditure. The prescription drugs for outpatients for mental health services are costing a way lot of money. The alarming factor is that only one third of them are prescribed by the psychiatrists. The government estimate of 2011 shows that the mental health spending has reached to $2.7 trillions till now (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, 2012). It is essential that the government should restrict the prescription of very expensive drugs to the mental health care practitioners needs. Mental health is one of the important factors in the American health care system that only and the payment should be done by the government sectors while ...