September 26, 2022
The concerning rates for mental health and substance use disorders have sparked a call-to-action in Pennsylvania and across the U.S.
Last week, the federal government released its new strategy to address the nation’s behavioral health crisis, focusing on ways to better integrate care.
During 2020, as many as 52.9 million adults were affected by mental illness and 37.9 million were affected by substance use disorders. About 1 in 10 children between 3 and 17 had received mental health services during the past year, the report noted.
“In order to ensure equity in access to affordable, high-quality, culturally appropriate care for mental health and substance use, we must fully integrate behavioral health into the larger health care system and other systems,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement with the report’s release.
The report focuses on the following key areas:
The report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is available online.
HAP continues to advocate for initiatives at the state and federal level to support Pennsylvania’s behavioral health. This includes a focus on bolstering the behavioral health care workforce, supporting the collaborative care model, and improving care for people in crisis and hospitals’ ability to manage capacity.
Learn more about our efforts to support behavioral health.
For more information about behavioral health, contact Jennifer Jordan, HAP’s vice president, regulatory advocacy.
Tags: Federal Advocacy | Behavioral Health
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