Question A: 

How is mental health provided in the United States? Discuss how current services could be improved.  

Question B:

Discuss the major factors contributing to the high costs of healthcare and why they are important.  

REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE’S DISCUSSION TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE. 

                                                   CLASSMATE’S POST

The term “mental health care” has been used to refer to a wide range of services, from common ones such as family and marital counseling to more specialized ones such as bipolar disorder treatment (Sundararaman, 2009). Shi cites mental illness as the second-highest national burden on health and productivity, after ischemic heart disease (2015). According to the Department of Defense (2020), mental health disorders are health conditions that cause significant changes in thinking, emotion, and behavior and can cause distress and problems with social, work, or family activities. One of the most common types of mental disorders is anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In order to fight the war on mental health, the Army devised a system that has yielded promising results. The success and efficacy of this system have prompted Congress to model the Defense Health Agency’s Behavioral Health Clinical Community after the Army’s. According to DOD (2020), the Army has 11 integrated behavioral health programs.The first is Behavioral Health in Patient-Centered Medical Homes, which integrates behavioral health providers into primary care clinics that serve active duty service members and their families.

1. Children, families, and      the Army community can receive services through school-based care, tele      consultation, and direct care.
2. Family Advocacy Program –      Provides education, prompt reporting, assessment, and treatment for      domestic abuse, child abuse, and child neglect.
3. Embedded Behavioral Health      – Provides Soldiers with multiple disciplines community behavioral health      care in close proximity to their units.
4. Preventive, advocacy, and      treatment services are provided by MultiDisciplinary Behavioral Health      Services to Soldiers and their families.
5. Seeks to treat patients      with substance use disorders and/or behavioral health issues in a      multi-week intensive outpatient setting.
6. Provides inpatient      behavioral health services to treat acute behavioral health crises and      safely transition patients to outpatient settings.
7. Residential Treatment      Facilities – Provides a 24/7 interdisciplinary program for substance use      disorders and other chronic conditions.
8. Incorporates virtual      behavioral health clinical capability.
9. Connect Care – Provides      care coordination for Soldiers and their families referred to civilian      inpatient facilities.
10. Traumatic Brain Injuries      Support.

I believe, people and communities will benefit greatly if these programs are implemented in the general population.

Questions B:

           Healthcare expenditure has been steadily increasing. According to Missouri Medicine, a wide range of factors influence medical cost inflation (2013). Technology for treating as well as diagnosing is constantly evolving and developing. Keeping up with technology will increase the investment, which will have a direct impact on the cost. Administrative expenses are the costs incurred in order to maintain rules and regulations while also providing trained employees, thus increasing the overall investment. According to Missouri Medicine, it accounts for 21% of total estimated excessive spending, pharmaceutical costs account for 10% of expenditures, and it has increased to 114 percent from 88 percent due to the use of biological agents over chemical agents, resulting in the cost of care. Mandated insurance benefits have had a direct impact on the cost because the governing body mandated health insurance, making it unaffordable. Chronic conditions are the most expensive and prevalent, and their prevalence is increasing year after year, resulting in costly care. Aging is a minor factor, but it has an impact on costs. As people get older, they require more advanced and effective services, which forces a price increase. End-of-life care costs the majority of health-care spending because they are the sickest and require the most care, and health disparities raise the cost because the majority of patients are poorer and sicker, requiring more care and services. In conclusion, each factor is directly involved with the amount of money spent on health care, which ultimately raises the cost of health care. (M.M, 2013)

References:

Missouri Medicine (M.M) (2013). Drivers of Health Care Cost: A physicians Foundation White paper-Second of a Three-Part Series. Micro-Series: Physician PracticeAcquisition. Retrieved from:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6179664/pdf/ms110_p0113.pdf

Shi, L. (2015). Essentials of the U.S. Health Care System (4th Edition). Jones & Bartlett  

Sundararaman, R. (2009). The U.S. Mental Health Delivery System Infrastructure: A Primer. Congressional Research Service.

US Department of Defense (2020). Evaluation of Access to Mental Health Care in the Department of Defense. Inspector General.