Better Funding Needed for Maryland Mental Health Services, Editorial Says

The Maryland government is "in denial" about the cost of providing services for people with mental illnesses and has done nothing to solve the problem of mental health clinics' "inadequate" budgets, a Baltimore Sun editorial states (Baltimore Sun, 6/11). Last month, the state increased by $42 million funding for mental health services in fiscal year 2003 and said it would pay mental health clinics a flat fee -- rather than the current fee-for-service system -- to care for uninsured and underinsured patients. The state also said that beginning July 1, it will limit mental health care coverage to patients with annual incomes less than 116% of the federal poverty level, or about $10,000 for an individual. The state will continue to cover patients already receiving treatment regardless if they meet the new eligibility standards (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/20). Despite the restructuring of mental health services, the Sun states that the "underlying problem of too much demand and too little money remains unsolved," adding that it is time for lawmakers to "face reality." As of March, 13 community mental health clinics had closed, and four more have since shut down because of budget problems, the editorial notes. The Sun concludes that rather than treating mental illness as an "afterthought," the state needs to better support mental health clinics, which "deserve budgets based on an accurate assessment of needs" (Baltimore Sun, 6/11).