Mental Health Care Policy in the 1990s: Discrimination in Health Care Coverage of the Seriously Mentally ill

The severely mentally ill face many roadblocks, including discrimination by the government & by insurance companies. This inequity contributes to the stigma of mental illness, & greatly increases patient suffering & results in needless fatalities – suicides that could have been prevented by properly reimbursed treatment. The author argues that it is imperative that policy leaders, physicians & mental health care advocates demand equal treatment under the law for the severely mentally ill.