White House unveils plan to expand access to mental health coverage

WASHINGTON (WTVD) -- President Joe Biden delivered remarks Tuesday afternoon, sharing details of a plan to make it easier for people to receive mental health care.

"Improving our mental health system means addressing the 3 C's -- coverage, care, and causes. Today, we took a big step in coverage. Now we need to keep expanding care," Biden said.

The proposal calls on private insurers to offer equal levels of coverage for physical and mental health, removes administrative barriers towards mental health care, and closes a loophole impacting health plans for state and local government employees.

"It's focused on building insurance company networks for mental health services so there are more in-network healthcare providers when you need mental health services rather than having to search everywhere and be unable to find someone who takes your insurance, we want to make it just as easy to access a mental healthcare provider as it is to a pediatrician or a family doctor," said Christen Linke Young, the Deputy Assistant to the President for Health and Veterans Affairs.

The Biden administration cited research from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health that found of the 21% of adults who had any mental illness in 2020, less than half received mental health care.

"Whether you're in a red state, blue state, it doesn't matter. Mental health care can be life-changing and even life-saving," said Biden.

In North Carolina, NCDHHS reported youth suicide deaths for children aged 10-18 years old more than doubled between 2011 and 2020, with the age group having the highest rates of self-harm emergency department visits in the state.

"Coming out of the pandemic, when we were all so physically isolated and trying to be socially connected, it's become a bigger concern," said Sharon Hirsch, President and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina.

Hirsch applauded the White House's efforts, emphasizing the importance of providing support to families.

"We know that parents who are resilient and can bounce back in a crisis are less likely to be overloaded by that stress or abuse or neglect their children. And parents who have strong social connections, those are all protective factors that make a difference in the lives of children and families," Hirsch explained.

Prevent Child Abuse North Carolina lists five protective factors: social and emotional competence, knowledge of parenting and child development, resilience, concrete support, and social connections.

Tuesday's announcement is part of a larger push to expand access to mental health coverage, which has covered things such as training of pediatric providers and the implementation of the 988 suicide and crisis hotline.

"The biggest thing is access to concrete economic support. We saw it during the pandemic, when we provided a child tax credit, families were able to meet their basic needs. And that's huge because when families are overloaded by stress, that's when things start to go and get really difficult," said Hirsch.

The proposal will undergo a 60-day public comment period.