The Kaiser Health Tracking Poll is a fascinating window into the public’s thinking about gun violence, gun control, and the adequacy of the nation’s response to the needs of those living with serious mental illness. All of the poll responses are revealing but some seem to be particularly important to those of us who fashion ourselves as mental health advocates.
According to the Kaiser poll, most Americans (75 percent) across age, race, insurance status, and even political party favor “requiring insurance companies to offer benefits for mental health and substance abuse services that are equivalent to benefits for other medical services.” But fewer than four in ten knew that there is a federal requirement that most plans providing mental health benefits have the same rules regarding copays, deductibles, and coverage limits for mental health and substance use benefits as for other medical services. Read more here.
