logo
book Subscribe to our Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
    • Grassroots Fundraising Journal
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Podcasts
    • Tiny Spark
    • Women of Color in Power
  • Webinars
    • Free Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership

Nonprofit Newswire | Major Implications for Mental Health Services in Reform Package

Ruth McCambridge
March 31, 2010
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

March 30, 2010; New York Times | According to this article, mental health advocates are thrilled about health care reform because it promises to significantly improve funding for the treatment of mental illness. In September 2009, NPQ covered the passage of the 2008 Mental Health Parity Act in an article entitled Advocacy in the Age of Obama. But the passage of health care reform has exponentially increased the potential to develop reasonable systems of care.

From this article in the Times, “A lot of this still has to play out in terms of how parity works,” said Michael J. Fitzpatrick, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, an advocacy group. But the new law “can change the mental health system in America and really give families and individuals an opportunity to get a level of access to care we could only fantasize about before this became law.”

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

According to researchers, people with mental illness are more likely to be uninsured, but the landmark Mental Health Parity law passed in 2008 promised only to prevent insurance companies from discriminating (in their deductibles and caps on payments) between physical and mental illnesses and only when their policies already covered mental illness.

The Reform Act now promises far more system wide access as the uninsured become covered. This, of course, brings up many of the same questions about the readiness of the system—particularly in terms of service providers. It will be interesting to watch how this field progresses faced with a truly phenomenal challenge! I recommend reading the article in NPQ referenced above for a rundown of the remarkable history and community-based effort behind the passage of the Parity bill and some of the concerns the service systems may face.—Ruth McCambridge

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

More about: Nonprofit News

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Spring_2022

You might also like
Pro-Blackness is Aspirational: A Conversation with Cyndi Suarez and Shanelle Matthews
Cyndi Suarez and Shanelle Matthews
Horror is Different than Terror
Lori Lobenstine
NLRB Board Demands Refunding to Meet the Rise in Unionization
Rithika Ramamurthy
It Takes Commitment: Management as Sharing Power and Participation
Yarissa Soriano
Building Tenant Power: A Growing Movement Rises in Baltimore
anneke dunbar-gronke
Housing Justice Leaders Assess How to Build Power for the Long Haul
Steve Dubb

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
June 9th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Wage Justice, Now!

Register
You might also like
AOC’s “Tax the Rich” Dress Dazzles Met Gala, while...
Anastasia Reesa Tomkin
Foundation Giving Numbers for 2020 Show 15 Percent Increase
Steve Dubb
Strike MoMA Imagines Art Museums without Billionaires
Tessa Crisman
WOMEN OF COLOR IN POWER
Women of Color in Power

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Authentic Leadership
Reclaiming Interrupted Lineages

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Submissions
  • Advertisers
  • Newsletters
  • Copyright

Subscribe to View Webinars

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.