Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
States Boost Mental Health Services
AP: Massachusetts Senate Approves Sweeping Mental Health Bill
The Massachusetts Senate unanimously approved a bill Wednesday that would guarantee Massachusetts residents are eligible for annual mental health wellness exams at no cost — akin to annual physical exams. The sweeping bill, which passed on a 39-0 vote, would also create an online portal to help smooth the transition from emergency to longer-term care; establish a panel to help resolve barriers to care for children with complex behavioral health needs who find themselves in an emergency room; and dedicate $122 million to support nearly 2,000 behavioral professionals. (LeBlanc, 11/17)
North Carolina Health News: State Budget Funds Some Mental Health Crisis Response
Throughout the pandemic, more people have sought mental health crisis services or have gone to hospital emergency rooms in distress. Hospitals leaders say the COVID-19 pandemic has created a behavioral health emergency. Pandemic-related stressors caused more demand for mental health services and an increase in substance use and overdoses, advocates and the data say. The state budget released Monday, which the governor said he will sign into law, provides some funding to relieve some of the pressure the surge of mental health patients have put on hospitals. (Knopf, 11/18)
AP: Rittenhouse Trial Arguments Worry Mental Health Advocates
Joseph Rosenbaum had been on medication for bipolar disorder and depression, and he was trying to take Rittenhouse’s rifle, attorney Mark Richards said, suggesting there could have been more bloodshed if Rittenhouse hadn’t acted. “I’m glad he shot him because if Joseph Rosenbaum got that gun I don’t for a minute believe he wouldn’t have used it against somebody else,” Richards said during closing arguments in the 18-year-old Illinois man’s trial for killing Rosenbaum and another man and wounding a third during a chaotic night of protests in August 2020. To some legal experts and other observers, Richards’ remarks were a smart courtroom strategy and an accurate depiction of the threat faced by Rittenhouse, who says he shot the men in self-defense. But mental health advocates heard something different: a dangerous assumption that people living with mental illness are homicidal and need to be killed, and terminology such as “crazy” that they say is pejorative and adds to the stigma surrounding mental health issues. (Burnett, 11/18)
AP: Callers To Global Helplines Voiced Similar Pandemic Worries
Fears of infection. Loneliness. Worries about physical health. As the coronavirus spread across borders early in the pandemic, calls to global helplines showed a striking similarity in the toll on mental health — from China to Lebanon, Finland to Slovenia. An analysis of 8 million calls to helplines in 19 countries, published Wednesday in Nature, reveals a collective response to unprecedented, uncertain times. (Tanner, 11/17)
