Mental illnesses are becoming more and more common nationwide, especially in the young adult population. In fact, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) reports that 1 in 5 adults deal with mental illness. Typically, the American population experiences depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, and substance abuse, and people who deal with these illnesses need mental health care. However, all of these patients cannot properly access their needed mental health care, as only 45% of them had access to mental health services. As a result, mental health has become a serious concern in the US. It should be noted that his disparity in mental health is greater for the BIPOC community. Sex is also a factor in the disparity and discrimination in terms of mental health care. Minorities are treated differently when it comes to mental health care. This is alarming since mental illness is closely linked to a person’s physical health, and it poses financial and social difficulties to the patient, their family, and their community. With the prevalence of mental illnesses nationwide, experts are pushing for mental health parity to address this issue, and Sovereign Health, under the leadership of Dr. Tonmoy Sharma, a mental health specialist, is confident that it does its part in doing so.
Why inaccessibility of MH services and refusing treatment further highlight the need to push for mental health parity
As previously mentioned, mental illnesses are correlated to physical health concerns. Mental illnesses lead to an estimated 25 years lower life expectancy in patients compared to the normal life expectancy of adults in America. This estimate goes to show how debilitating mental illnesses can be, which is why there is a need to advocate for mental health parity. When mental health parity is achieved, patients with mental health illnesses would not need to worry so much about their physical health too.
It should also be noted that mental health conditions are hard for the patient, as well as their family and immediate community because the patient can experience symptoms or conditions that negatively affect their daily functions. However, mental health care is not as accessible and easy as experts want them to be, and there is still a huge stigma on them. These reasons contribute to the decreasing number of patients who seek help for their conditions. With mental health parity, mental health education is included, which means that more people would understand mental illnesses. Also, quality mental health services would be more accessible to patients, and they can get the treatment that works for them without the constant trial and error just to find the right treatment for them.
Recent findings about mental health parity
Recently, a study was done on experts and institutions that provide behavioral health care. According to the study, mental health care systems face a lot of hindrances to properly address the needs of the patients, such as “undeveloped community-based support, high levels of unmet needs, and lack of parity when it came to providing access to quality care.”
As a result, the study claims that there is a need for an overhaul of the current mental health systems so that they can improve the quality and accessibility of the services they provide. This overhaul includes mental health education for awareness and addressing the stigma on mental health conditions and including mental health care in the provision of general health care.
How Sovereign Health addresses mental health parity
Back in 2008, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA)was passed in Congress so that behavioral health benefits are the same as physical health benefits. Sovereign Health, under the leadership of Dr. Tonmoy Sharma, author, and mental health specialist, takes pride in providing high-quality mental health care to whoever needs it, regardless of age, sex, gender, or race. Sovereign Health has a wide range of services for substance abuse, mental illness and co-existing conditions, and trauma. Patient testimonials prove that Sovereign provides top-notch care for their patients.
Major health insurance providers are accepted for the insurance and funding of treatments at Sovereign Health, which shows their commitment to making their services accessible. Sovereign Health also partnered with My Treatment Lender to help people finance their treatment.
Sovereign Health prioritizes their patients’ needs and makes sure that they can get the best treatment possible to help them with their condition. The way Sovereign Health provides their services show that they are committed to address the America’s concerns on mental health parity, and this is the kind of commitment patients need in mental health systems.
