Hillary Clinton's mental healthcare proposal: 7 things to know

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton released a new mental health agenda Monday.

"Recognizing that nearly a fifth of all adults in the United States — more than 40 million people — are coping with a mental health problem, Hillary's plan will integrate our mental and physical healthcare systems. Her goal is that within her time in office, Americans will no longer separate mental health from physical health when it comes to access to care or quality of treatment," a statement from her campaign reads.

Here are seven things to know about the proposal.

1. If elected, Ms. Clinton would call a conference on mental health during her first year in office.

2. She also plans to better integrate mental and physical health through enhanced community-based treatment and restructured payment models under Medicare and Medicaid to reimburse accordingly for behavioral health services.

3. Ms. Clinton's proposal would launch a national initiative for suicide prevention led by the Surgeon General.

4. The proposal also aims to enforce mental health parity to the full extent of the law, which includes helping reinforce laws that require mental health benefits to be equal to benefits for other health conditions under group plans.

5. The agenda includes provisions to improve law enforcement training on responding to conflicts involving people with mental illnesses. For low-level offenders, Ms. Clinton also proposes prioritizing mental health treatment over jail time.  

6. The proposal also includes plans to create more housing opportunities for people with mental illnesses and disabilities under an initiative led by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and HHS. She also plans to expand HHS' employment program for those with mental illness.

7. Lastly, Ms. Clinton's proposal includes provisions to increase funding for brain and behavioral research and treatments.

 

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