Striking Kaiser Permanente mental health workers say children may suffer even more than adults from delays in treatment.
Economists say fines are far cheaper than hiring staff. Kaiser says the union creates crises.
The HMO needs to hire more clinicians to ensure that patients wait no more than the legally mandated 10 days between appointments, says veteran therapist.
Striking Kaiser therapist says patients stuck without appointments ‘don’t have that backup.’
Her patients are waiting months for therapy. ‘This strike is not about money,’ says Sacramento therapist Jane Kostka.
Long waits for care, understaffing lead 2,000 workers to give walkout notice.
With the health giant again under scrutiny by California regulators for alleged denial of care, many therapists are leaving for private practice.
Psychotherapist Stuart Perlman’s portraits capture the humanity of those living on the streets.
For Kaiser member Victor Gomez, getting help meant going out of network.
Inside the movement to bring mental health care, not law enforcement, to people in psychiatric distress.
Critics accuse the medical provider of not matching the level of its treatment of mental illnesses with that of its care for physical health.
Co-published by Fast Company
More than a third of Americans are showing signs of clinical anxiety or depression, a 300 percent increase over last year.
One survey found that 80 percent of one encampment’s residents reported having a diagnosed mental illness.
“The best practices of psychotherapy state that patients should be seen weekly or every other week,” says one clinical psychologist. But at Kaiser, his average patient must wait five weeks between appointments.
Californians passed the Mental Health Services Act to transform and expand the reach of the state’s mental health services. A problem, some mental health advocates say, is that the state doesn’t give much guidance on how a county should spend its dollars.
By cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for mental health care and substance abuse treatment, President Trump’s budget would send more people to jail who don’t belong there.
Co-published by Fast Company
Online-therapy companies are raising ethical questions about what it means to put technologists in charge of a mental health care platform with unique. Will people suffering from depression or suicidal urges be considered as patients or consumers by the new startups?
“Uncovered California” is a three-part series of stories and videos examining how the Golden State is trying to fill holes in its health care coverage.
Surveys suggest that somewhere in the region of one in four community college students will experience a diagnosable mental health problem at some point, but approximately 40% of them won’t seek timely help.