Georgia ranked 51st in the nation in access to mental health care
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As Gov. Brian Kemp announces his reelection plans, he does so with the backdrop that the Peach State is ranked 51st in the nation in access to mental health care. A coalition of mental health and substance abuse organizations comprised of the Georgia Mental Health Policy Partnership and Substance Use Disorder Community are pushing for Georgia to do something about the state’s dismal status.
The coalition presented their concept to improve mental health and substance abuse care and is asking Gov. Kemp and the General Assembly to allocate parts of the $170 million in federal coronavirus relief funding allocated to Georgia to make policy changes.
During a news conference at the state Capitol, Jeff Breedlove, Chief of Communications and Policy for the Georgia Council on Substance Abuse said, “The unified vision sets out a transformational roadmap that will significantly improve the lives of Georgians with mental health and substance abuse disorders.” Improving mental health and substance abuse services has been on state elected officials’ radar screens for several years.
During the legislative session this year, the General Assembly unanimously passed legislation aimed at increasing the delivery of care via telemedicine. It also prohibits requiring patients to receive in-person medical consultation before getting telemedicine services and prohibits separate insurance deductibles for telemedicine care. Rep. Sharon Cooper, R-east Cobb, chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, sponsored the bill. Cooper is driven by her her own personal experiences among family members and has written two textbooks on psychiatric nursing. She revealed that both her late mother and sister suffered from mental illness.
A commission of state lawmakers, health-care professionals, mental-health advocates, and criminal-justice officials were formed by Kemp in 2019 to address the issue, but no work product has been presented to the public.
The coalition’s unified vision makes a series of recommendations, including addressing a severe shortage of mental health care workers and improving access to mental health care by improving broadband service is being recommended by the coalition. They are also recommending that the state put greater emphasis on early identification of people suffering mental illness or substance abuse issues and require insurance companies to treat patients with mental illness the same as those with a physical illness.