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-- WITH PHOTO -- TO HEALTH, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:
4 Million Uninsured People With Mental Illness Will Be Denied Health
Insurance Because Their Home States Refuse to Participate in the ACA
Medicaid Expansion Program
Joel Miller, AMHCA executive director and CEO, is available for interviews.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 26, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new
groundbreaking study shows that nearly 4 million people with mental
illnesses who are uninsured reside in the 25 states that have refused
to participate in the Medicaid Expansion program under the Affordable
Care Act (ACA). Many of these individuals have severe mental health
conditions and currently have no health insurance coverage through any
public or private plan, but will be denied the opportunity to obtain
coverage for treatment since those states have refused to participate.
States declining Medicaid Expansion represent 55 percent of all
uninsured people with major mental health disorders who are eligible
for coverage in the new health insurance access initiative.
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140226/DC72083)
The comprehensive study - "Dashed Hopes, Broken Promises, More
Despair: How the Lack of State Participation in the Medicaid Expansion
Will Punish Americans With Mental Illness," released by the American
Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) - shows that 6.7 million
uninsured people with a mental illness are currently eligible for
coverage under the Medicaid Expansion that went into effect on Jan. 1,
2014. But the majority of these individuals with mental health
conditions will be left out in the coverage cold due to their state's
antagonism toward the Medicaid Expansion health insurance initiative.
Key findings from the AMHCA report include :
-- Nearly 4 million uninsured people (3.7 million) who have a serious
mental illness, are in serious psychological distress or who have a
substance use disorder are eligible for health insurance coverage
through the new Medicaid Expansion program in the 25 states that have
rejected participation in the initiative.
-- Nearly 75 percent (2.7 million adults) of all uninsured persons
with a mental health condition or substance use disorder who are
eligible for coverage in the non-expansion states (3.7 million),
reside in these 11 Southern states that have rejected the Medicaid
Expansion: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
-- More than 1.1 million uninsured people who have serious mental
health and substance abuse conditions live in just two states - Texas
(625,000) and Florida (535,000). These more than 1.1 million
individuals are eligible for coverage under the new Medicaid Expansion
program, but won't receive it. Since officials in Texas and Florida
(and other 23 states) have said they will not participate in the
initiative, they are leaving their most vulnerable citizens without
health insurance, even though the federal government will pay for it
(at 100 percent for the first three years of the program and slowly
tapering off to 90 percent in 2020 and thereafter). The funds for this
are already included in the federal budget.
"If the 25 states do not participate in the new Medicaid Expansion
program, uninsured citizens with mental illness who experience the
misfortune of residing in those states will see their hopes of a
healthier and better life dashed when they learn during the enrollment
process that they will not be able to obtain health insurance," said
Judith Bertenthal-Smith, president of AMHCA.
States expanding Medicaid will have enhanced capacity to meet the
needs of millions of previously uninsured people with mental illness,
which will intensify the treatment disparity gap between states. The
25 non-expansion states will be further left behind as those states
that do expand Medicaid will see an influx of new federal monies to
shore up their mental health systems, which have witnessed ruinous
cuts since 2000.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the new Medicaid Expansion
program - which started on Jan. 1, 2014 - is an optional program;
states can opt into or out of it at any time without incurring
penalties. But states that perpetually opt out of Medicaid Expansion
will hurt people with mental illness.
"The burden of mental illness in the U.S. is incredibly high due to
increasing numbers of uninsured people with mental health conditions.
The lack of health insurance coverage keeps people with mental illness
from obtaining needed services and treatments - and follow-up care -
that lead to achieving long-term recovery and improving their quality
of life," said Joel E. Miller, executive director and CEO of AMHCA and
author of the "Dashed Hopes" report. "Health insurance is the passkey
to good, timely health care services, and state policymakers in 25
states are locking people out of the system."
To read the full report, please visit
www.amhca.org/assets/content/AMHCA_DashedHopes_Report_2_21_14_final.pdf
.
The American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) works to
enhance the profession of mental health counseling through advocacy,
education, licensure and professional development.
SOURCE American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA)
-0- 02/26/2014
/CONTACT: Joel E. Miller, jmiller@amhca.org, 703-548-4474
/Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140226/DC72083
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
CO: American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA)
ST: Virginia
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-- DC72083 --
0000 02/26/2014 11:00:00 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com
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