The tragic killings in Tucson Arizona highlight how inadequate the current Mental Health System in the United States has become.
Due to totally inadequate financial reimbursement for mental health care providers on the part of private health insurance carriers and the Federal and State programs of Medicare and Medicaid respectively, too many patients are either not treated at all or are ineffectively managed medically, many becoming homeless or imprisoned, which is not only immoral but extremely cost-ineffective in the long run.
Even though the incidence of violence among patients afflicted with major psychotic disorders is low (roughly 1-2%), it is nonetheless not negligible as can be seen by the murders in Arizona purportedly carried out by a young man presumed to be suffering from Schizophrenia.
It is absurd that the USA has managed to spend over a trillion dollars per year in war-making for what is admittedly cost ineffective and morally unjustifiable reasons and yet as a nation we cannot muster the will to provide adequate medical care to our population due primarily to the greed, selfishness and vested self-interest of financial elites.
The medical delivery system in the United States must be completely overhauled and represents one more among many reasons why the American Empire must come to an end! The trillion dollars plus spent on war-making per year could be reduced to < $250 billion while still managing to provide a very reasonable defense and deterrent. The over $750 billion dollars in savings should be spent on Medicare, Medicaid and if any is left; Social Security.
--Dr. J. P. Hubert
See these for further background:
Texas Mental Health Care a Disgrace
Mental Illness, Chronic Homelessness: An American Disgrace
No comments:
Post a Comment