TAKING A CLOSER LOOK AT BLACK MENTAL HEALTH

One of the challenges African-Americans with mental health Issues continue to face is an imbalance in health insurance coverage. While the Affordable Care Act has caused the uninsured rate among Blacks to decline by close to 10 percentage points between 2013 and 2016, it remains almost twice as high...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inChicago Citizen Vol. 51; no. 25
Main Author Maryland, Patricia
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Chicago, Ill Chicago Weekend 07.09.2016
Subjects
African Americans
Health care access
Health care policy
Health services
Mental health
United States > US
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Summary:One of the challenges African-Americans with mental health Issues continue to face is an imbalance in health insurance coverage. While the Affordable Care Act has caused the uninsured rate among Blacks to decline by close to 10 percentage points between 2013 and 2016, it remains almost twice as high as the uninsured rate for non-Hispanic Whites. There is also a lack of AfricanAmerican mental health professionals who can deliver culturally competent care for illnesses that are often deeply personal and can be the subject of stigmatization. According to a 2014 survey, less than 2 percent of American Psychological Association members are AfricanAmerican. These disparities are unacceptable. It is dear that we must make mental health equity a guiding prindple and an utmost priority. As Ascension's President and CEO Anthony Tersigni recently stated: "Insurance coverage for thetreatment of these disorders has long been discriminatory compared with coverage for physical diseases. In 2008, die federal government essentially legislated that there be parity between mental health coverage and physical health coverage, but the intended changes have been problematic and slow in coming."