MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATES CLAIM SUCCESS AT MT LEGISLATURE

State lawmakers address many of Montana’s most pressing mental-health needs.

By Mark Moran Big Sky Connection

Montana's mental health advocates said state lawmakers addressed many of the state's pressing needs in the just-completed legislative session, but more work remains to be done.

The Montana Legislature addressed increasing funding for youth suicide prevention, adding beds at crisis care centers, improving Medicaid reimbursement rates for community behavioral health providers, increasing the number of community behavioral health centers and reworking conditional-release programs for offenders with serious mental health conditions.

Matt Kuntz, executive director of the National

Alliance on Mental Illness-Montana, said it is exactly how lawmakers should address the state's critical mental health needs.

"There was a big, bipartisan push for mental health," Kuntz acknowledged. "There's a lot of things our country doesn't agree about right now. There's a lot of things our state doesn't agree about right now. But to see bipartisan agreement on mental health is really positive."

Kuntz pointed out while lawmakers did a lot to support mental health issues in the state, he and other advocates are already thinking about how to make more progress in the next legislative session.

While Medicaid reimbursement rates are slight- ly higher than they have been, Kuntz explained because reimbursement rates are still below where they should be, caregiver wages stay low, making it hard to attract providers to the profession.

"It's going to be a challenge to keep moving forward with increasing the number of care providers, both clinicians and technical staff," Kuntz cautioned. "Getting those bodies to serve and care for the people and make mental health their career is a long-term challenge, especially coming out of COVID."

Kuntz added he and other advocates are already planning to ask for higher Medicaid reimbursement rates moving forward.

By Mike Moen Prairie News Service

North Dakota's population includes 16% of its residents aged 65 and older, with demographers predicting the number will increase, and a new report showed family members caring for many older residents are doing so with a large economic value.

The latest AARP estimate found the unpaid care provided by family caregivers in North Dakota is pegged at $1 billion, based on the average weekly hours they put in. The group said it highlights the challenges caregivers face amid an aging population.

Vel Rae Burkholder, an AARP volunteer and retiree in Fargo, was a caregiver for both her adult son and husband when they each had cancer at different points. She said for her husband, there was a lot to juggle at times.

"It was a never-ending struggle with trying to do everything that had to be done like grocery shopping," Burkholder recounted.

The number of North Dakota family caregivers declined in the most recent estimate, but the economic value of their care went up by $20 million. AARP pushed for support measures in the recent legislative session, including a tax credit to reduce the financial burden for these households. At the federal level, President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order designed to offer more caregiver assistance.

Meanwhile, Burkholder suggested it would be helpful for government agencies and aid groups to create more awareness about services tied to respite care.

"That would be a great thing if they would provide some more knowledge about how you can get home health care so that you can go out and get away for a little bit," Burkholder recommended.

According to AARP, there are more than 60,000 family caregivers in North Dakota. More than 60% of them have full- or part-time jobs.

Did You Know?

“One in six U.S. youth aged 6-17 experience a mental health disorder each year. Half of all lifetime mental illness begins by age 14, and 75% by age 24. Depression alone costs the nation about $210.5 billion annually. The average delay between onset of mental illness symptoms and treatment is 11 years.”

Source: https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/external/2020/11/10-surprising-mental-health-statistics-from-2020/#:~:text=One%20in%20six%20U.S.%20 youth,and%20treatment%20is%2011%20years.