LANSING -- For decades, advocates have complained Michigan’s mental-health system is severely underfunded and under strain.
Now there are signs lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are finally listening.
“It’s the issue that keeps me up at night,” said State Rep. Mary Whiteford, R-South Haven, who chairs the House Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee and has made mental health one of her signature issues.
One reason for the attention in Lansing among Republicans: Mass shootings in recent years has put pressure on politicians to “do something.” And while gun control is a highly partisan issue, improving mental-health services is not.
Reports of mass shooters with unaddressed mental-health issues have galvanized lawmakers and “is shining a light” on mental-health services and access, said state Rep. Hank Vaupel, R-Fowlerville, who chairs the House Health Policy Committee.
Lawmakers also are getting an earful from constituents with family members who have had difficulties accessing services, as well as local officials raising concerns about mental-health issues in county jails.
“The percentage of people in our county jails with mental-health issues is right about 66%,” Vaupel said. “Our jails are our biggest provider” of mental-health services.
As lawmakers have looked more closely at the issues around mental health, he added, they’re realizing “we have to do something – we can’t just continue as we are.”
Among the recent legislative accomplishments, Vaupel said: Increasing pay for low-wage workers at state psychiatric hospitals to address staffing shortfalls, increasing the Medicaid reimbursement rate for psychiatrists and approving creation of a statewide registry of in-patient psychiatric beds to make it easier to find a placement for patients.
“We’re trying to reduce the barriers to access of care when people are first diagnosed and seeking help,” Vaupel said, saying it’s difficult for many mental-health patients to navigate the system. “One thing we can do is reduce the need for in-patient beds to making access to outpatient care much easier. … We have great health system. But we do have not a very good delivery system all the time.”
State Sen. John Bizon, R-Battle Creek, is among Republicans saying further reforms are needed. “I’d like to do more,” he said. “We’re not doing enough.”
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