The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 14, 2003 Page: 2 of 24
twenty four pages : ill. ; page 17 x 11 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
2
THURSDAY 14 AUGUST 2003
*7'de (?ArtadiaM' RECORD
(3€Utadicti<i
RECORD
INCORPORATED FEBRUARY 1998
BEN EZZELL
Editor & Publisher 1948 1993
08
NANCY EZZELL Publisher
LAURIE EZZELL BROWN
Editor editor@canadianrecord.com
TONYA FINSTERWALD
Advertising Manger
advertising@canadianrecord.com
CATHY RICKETTS
News & Features
news@canadianrecord.com
JENNY KLEIN, News
news@canadianrecord.com
MARY SMITHEE, Office Manager
circulation@canadianrercrd.com
DESIGN & PRODUC ON:
Laurie Ezzell, Tonya Finsterwald,
Kim McKinney
PHOTOGRAPHY:
Laurie Ezzell Brown, Cathy Ricketts,
Seth Davidson
USPS 087-960
P.O. Box 898,
Canadian (Hemphill! Texas 79014
Fax I: (806)323-5738
E-mail address: lrbrown@well.com
Periodicals postage paid at the Post Office in
Canadian, Texas. Published weakly
in Canadian, Texas, by Nancy M. Ezzell.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to
The Canadian Record, Box 898,
Canadian, TX 79014
SUBSCRIPTION RATES:
$25|Year in Hemphill County
$30/Year in adjoining counties
$35/Year elsewhere
Ttt
MEMBER
2003
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
BETTER NEWSPAPER CONTEST
AWARD WINNER 2003
IHTW6 CHTeTO*,VC0'!5E
EITHER R3fct CR U6-
-UHlfSSVOOJUSV
mu,BO¥-
SOTtrVlWHir
KSvMEVET?
il
JF OMI.V OT.V KHO-'-'K
\
Funding key to
mental health reform
By Jne Patrick Bean, Victoria [Texas) Advocate
IF YOU ARE ONE of the 20 million or so Americans experiencing
mental illness, you should not be ashamed to seek treatment. Unfor-
tunately, though, the stigma that mental illnesses, unlike most physical
maladies, are shameful or embarrassing continues- to haunt us, pre-
venting too many Americans from seeking treatment that, in far more
cases than not, will prove effective.
Thus, "Americans must be taught that mental illness is not shame-
ful so that people will seek out screening and treatment," The Associ-
ated Press reported, summarizing a study the President's New
Freedom Commission on Mental Health released Tuesday. That is the
foundation for a comprehensive reform of mental health care the com-
mission is recommending.
"Today's mental health system, critics say, responds to crises, sim-
ply keeping people on medications and squelching symptoms," accord-
ing to the AP.
"The commission recommends fundamentally transforming how
mental health care is delivered in America," the report urged.
This would be based on a new model of mental health care that goes
"beyond medication and managing symptoms," the AP explained. "Un-
der a new model, counselors would develop a plan to help the patient
live a fuller life, which would include, but not be limited to, medication.
That could mean helping someone find housing, get job training or de-
velop skills to have social or romantic relationships,"
The scope of the need is staggering. From 5 percent to 7 percent of
American adults have mental illness, as do 5 percent to 9 percent of
children.
"The report notes that 30,000 Americans a year commit suicide,
many with undiagnosed or untreated mental illnesses," The New York
Times noted. "Attempted suicides lead to hundreds of thousands of
hospital visits a year,"
So the current system clearly is not working. The biggest problem
with moving to the new—and likely more effective—model that the
commission recommends is how to pay for it. About two-thirds of adults
with mental illness do not have jobs, according to NAMI, the nation's
leading advocacy organization on mental health issues. About half of
these Americans earn less than $10,000 per year. And a substantial
number of those who do seek treatment depend on publicly funded
health care programs to fund it.
Given the draconian budget cuts state legislatures across the coun-
try are imposing to reduce shortfalls and avoid tax increases, the num-
ber of adults with mental illnesses having access to publicly funded
treatment is falling dramatically.
And the situation is just as bad, arguably worse, for children. Con-
sider what the Texas Legislature this year voted to do to lower-income
children with mental illnesses in the Lone Star State.
"On Sept. 1, more than 500,000 children with coverage statewide ...
will lose most of their mental health coverage through the Children's
Health Insurance Program," the Austin American-Statesman
reported.
The highly regarded CHIP funded health care for children in
"working poor" families, those earning too much to make them eligible
for Medicaid but not enough to afford the ever-escalating cost of
insurance.
The president's commission called for more frequent screening of
children for mental illnesses. In Texas, were that to happen, the
soon-to-be CHIPless kids would not receive the treatment they need.
They would not have access to basic treatment such as medication and
symptom management, let alone anything beyond—and often more ex-
pensive than—that.
But it is not only lower-income Americans who do not have sufficient
access to mental health care. Folks whose earnings put them well into
the middle- or even upper-class brackets also may not, if they rely on
employer-provided insurance to pay for treatment for themselves or,
more likely, family members.
The insurance industry does not cover treatment for mental ill-
nesses to nearly the same degree that it does for physical illnesses.
President Bush seemed to endorse legislation U.S. Sen. Pete
Domenici, R-N.M., and the late U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone, D-Minn., re-
introduced two years ago to require "parity," that insurers provide
equal coverage for both physical and mental illnesses. But the presi-
dent fell into his too-frequent tendency to utter compassionate conser-
vative words but then to fail utterly in the follow-through.
So Congress has not yet passed parity legislation, despite consider-
able bipartisan support, partly because of die-hard opposition from the
insurance industry, but also because of Bush's unwillingness to prod
lawmakers to do so.
To its credit, the commission recommended parity, but it refused to
push for additional funding for mental health treatment - of any model.
Given the president's obsession with tax cuts despite unprecedented
Continued on Page 3
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 33, Ed. 1 Thursday, August 14, 2003, newspaper, August 14, 2003; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220591/m1/2/: accessed April 27, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.