WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Rep. Cody on Mental Health Care Reform

Rep. Eileen Cody, D-34 Aaron Barna
Rep. Eileen Cody, D-34

Rep. Eileen Cody wrote the following op-ed for the King County Medical Society’s “Bulletin” last June, discussing the need for mental health care reform in Washington state. Read the op-ed below:

As health care providers, we strive to make sure our patients get the care they need to live healthy, productive lives. Serving as a State Representative is not much different from working as a nurse. The decisions we make in the legislature have immediate, profound effects on people’s lives, and that means we feel a great sense of pride when the system works well, and a great sense of responsibility if the system fails.

Too many Washingtonians are living in our communities with untreated mental illness. It’s evident to me in my work in the health care community, where patients have been forced to wait indefinitely in emergency rooms for psychiatric care that never comes. And it’s evident to me as Chair of the House Health Care and Wellness Committee, where my colleagues and I regularly hear from individuals with mental illnesses, as well as their providers and families, about the challenges of accessing treatment throughout our state.

Washington has one of the highest suicide rates in the country: In 2010 alone, our communities lost nearly 1,000 sons and daughters to preventable suicide. Countless more Washingtonians struggle with depression or other treatable mental illnesses. The care they need is often out of reach, both in terms of cost and knowing where to go.

This unfortunate reality leaves family members struggling to care for their loved ones on their own. It means people — members of our community — go without care because they can’t access it, or in some cases because they are too sick to accept care. In the worst cases, untreated mental illness sparks random violence in our communities.

I am proud that Washington state has been a national leader in health care reform. In 2013, we expanded access to our Medicaid system to more than 300,000 people who would otherwise be living without care, and our Health Benefits Exchange has enrolled nearly 150,000 people in health plans, and most of them received a federal tax credit. Given these successes, it is shameful that we have allowed our state’s mental illness and suicide epidemic to escalate. We can and must support our citizens better.

As part of the Affordable Care Act, Washington is moving forward with a State Health Care Innovation Plan that will improve the quality and affordability of health care across the state through a number of sweeping reforms.

Part of this plan includes bringing our health care delivery systems in line with each other so that mental health, chemical dependency, and primary care systems work together to provide a well-rounded, efficient health care system for all of Washington’s community members.

Currently, mental health services are overseen by Regional Support Networks, while chemical dependency services fall under the purview of individual counties. In the future, these systems must work together seamlessly. We took the first step this year with the passage of Senate Bill 6312, which mandates the integration of mental health and chemical dependency services. Simplifying our state’s health care networks will reduce administrative costs so that we can direct more funding into treatment options, and at the same time we’ll be creating a comprehensive, patient-focused health care system.

Over the next several months, legislators, along with representatives from county and state agencies, will review the way our state delivers mental health and chemical dependency treatment and will be making recommendations on the best way to integrate those services into our primary care system. By better serving people with mental health problems in this state, we can strengthen our families and make sure our children are growing up in safe communities.