NAMI Greater Longview, NAMI Tyler, and NAMI Nacogdoches the Candidates Were Asked the Following Open-Ended Questions: 1
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NAMI Texas #Vote4MentalHealth Region 6 State Candidate Questionnaire For NAMI Affiliates: NAMI Greater Longview, NAMI Tyler, and NAMI Nacogdoches The candidates were asked the following open-ended questions: 1. Texas is experiencing a shortage of mental health and addiction care providers, especially in rural and underserved areas. How will you make sure more people have access to mental health treatment and services? 2. State and federal law requires mental health parity, or the equal treatment of mental health conditions and substance During February 2020 and September-October 2020, NAMI use disorders, compared to physical health conditions, in Texas’ Public Policy Team and our volunteers sent out a six- insurance plans. However, individuals in Texas still often question mental health policy questionnaire via Google Forms to receive unequal coverage for mental health treatment and every individual running for a state legislative seat in a contested services. What will you do to improve coverage for race. Candidates were also provided information on NAMI Texas’ mental health care? public policy platform. We are only sharing the results for 3. At least 30% of individuals in local Texas jails have a candidates who are in a contested race. If we have not received a severe mental illness, and more than half of justice- completed questionnaire from a candidate, we will indicate that we involved individuals nationwide have at least one mental have not received a response yet. Reminders were sent on a weekly health condition. What will you do to divert people with basis to candidates who had not yet responded to the mental illness from the criminal justice system? questionnaire. 4. Almost a quarter of individuals experiencing homelessness have a severe mental illness, and mental NAMI Texas is a non-partisan 501(c)(3) non-profit illness has been identified as the third leading cause of organization. We DO NOT endorse any candidates, or rank or alter homelessness nationwide. How will you help people with their answers in any way. We provide this information to educate mental illness who are struggling with housing? you on where candidates in your district stand on key mental 5. Half of mental health conditions begin by the age of 14 health issues and let you use this information to inform your vote and 75% begin by the age of 24, but these issues often go rd on November 3 . A candidate’s inclusion of answers here does not undetected and untreated until they reach a crisis point. indicate a preference or endorsement by NAMI Texas. Inclusion in How will you promote earlier intervention for people this guide does not indicate that NAMI Texas endorses any experiencing mental illness? candidate's positions provided in the questionnaire. We encourage 6. Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the country, and NAMI members and mental health advocates to continue asking has faced serious challenges in ensuring individuals in important questions of legislative and local candidates and underserved areas have access to health care. What will #Vote4MentalHealth! you do to improve access to health care and reduce our high uninsured rate? More information on the #Vote4MentalHealth campaign can be found at namitexas.org/vote4mentalhealth-texas. NAMI Texas #Vote4MentalHealth Region 6 State Candidate Questionnaire For NAMI Affiliates: NAMI Greater Longview, NAMI Tyler, and NAMI Nacogdoches Senate District 1 show promising results, and I would work to expand access to Bryan Hughes (R, Incumbent) creative solutions like that as a member of the legislature. Bryan Hughes has not responded to the questionnaire yet. 4. Housing: We need to prioritize affordable housing options for Texans all over the state. This should include supportive housing, Audrey Spanko (D) but even access to affordable housing without extra services is 1. System Capacity: Medicaid expansion will play an important necessary to curbing homelessness in Texas. Additionally, it will role in increasing access to mental health services, as it will bring be important to ensure that people experiencing homelessness also coverage to over 40,000 East Texans, many of whom live in rural have access to quality mental and physical health services. areas. Especially during a pandemic, we need to work to expand 5. Early Intervention: In order to ensure Texans can access the use of Telehealth services; however, for rural Texans these mental health services before they reach a crisis point, we should services have proved critical, and it will be necessary to continue encourage mental health screenings to begin at a younger age. One the expansion of Telehealth, even when we are no longer facing a way we can accomplish this is increasing the number of school global pandemic. social workers across the state, this would allow public school 2. Mental Health Coverage/Parity: For too long, the legislature students access to a mental health professional whenever they are has allowed health insurance companies to go unchecked. We on campus. should focus our efforts on holding these for profit companies 6. Access to Health Care: Senate district 1 is currently home to accountable, so Texans can attain necessary mental health 134,000 individuals without health insurance and has the highest coverage, in addition to the physical health coverage they are infant mortality rate in the state. I plan to fight for Medicaid receiving. We should also work to increase Medicaid expansion. Over 42,000 uninsured individuals in Senate District 1 reimbursement, making it more competitive with Medicare rates. would gain medical coverage if Texas expanded Medicaid. This would incentivize health care workers to improve and expand Expanded coverage also means women and children will have the the services they provide. coverage they need to seek life-saving medical services. Over the 3. Criminal Justice: This is a part of a broad and necessary last nine years four rural hospitals have closed in District 1. discussion of reimagining our criminal justice system. In order to Expanding coverage and insurance could help save other hospitals truly provide justice, we need to provide services to individuals, at risk of closing. even before they become justice-involved. First of all, expanded Medicaid will bring coverage to thousands of Texans who may be Senate District 22 suffering from a mental illness that would otherwise go untreated Brian Birdwell (R, Incumbent) and potentially could lead them to involvement with our broken Brian Birdwell has not responded to the questionnaire yet. criminal justice system. Additionally, mental health resources in Texas need to be accessible to all Texans, not just to those who can Robert Vick (D) pay top dollar. Other ideas, like supportive housing programs, also 1. System Capacity: Nine of the ten Counties that make up Senate District 22 are rural so this issue is of utmost important to my NAMI Texas #Vote4MentalHealth Region 6 State Candidate Questionnaire For NAMI Affiliates: NAMI Greater Longview, NAMI Tyler, and NAMI Nacogdoches constituents. The State Legislature can do several things. First, the clients interactions with the police and the penal system. We expand Medicaid, Texas is now only one of twelve States that has thought that the prior funding for inpatient mental health care not. Providing health care to 1.6 million Texans will help mitigate would flow to the community based approach, unfortunately it did the impact of poverty, unhealthy life-style choices, economic not. Housing, intervention and community based treatment will uncertainty, and will improve the physical, emotional and mental reduce costs compared to jail, prison and certain recidivism. It's an health of those most in need. Second, increase Medicaid investment we should make. reimbursements to increase more medical provider participation, including peer to peer support services. Third, grant APRNs full When individuals are in jail, they should have access to needed practice authority to reduce the shortage of "authorized" medical medication and support, should be signed up for our newly professionals. Forth, increase funding and support for mental expanded Medicaid and should get help planning their release and health evaluation and treatment services available to schools. Fifth, transaction back into society. This will also prove to be cost develop and fund proven successful group, peer, maternal, effective! provider and family support programs. 4. Housing: Projects for Assistance in Transition from 2. Mental Health Coverage/Parity: A major hindrance to Homelessness (PATH) and The Healthy Community Collaborative reaching parity is our failure to expand Medicaid. Rural hospitals and two excennely programs dealing with housing and mental are closing at an alarming rate in Texas, 21 in the last decade. illness, They are only available to residents of major urban areas. More than 75% of Texas rural hospitals are hanging on by a The rural residents of Senate District 22 have no such options. The thread. Mental health services are normally and routinely rural homeless, often shunned by family, frequently find reimbursed at a lower rate if at all. Scarce hospital resources are themselves in urban areas. There are housing options, Section 8, "saved" for those with emergency medical needs. Expand Section 811, supervised and supportive housing. The shortage is in Medicaid and Medicaid reimbursements and you save rural mental health professionals in rural areas to can direct and support hospitals and expand mental health and substance abuse options. those in transition. I would defer to NAMI, but my first impression 3. Criminal Justice: Drug and substance abuse courts should be is that these professionals would be community based working in established to divert substance addicted individuals into detox and local rural hospitals recently saved by Medicaid expansion. treatment programs. 5. Early Intervention: In our schools, of course. In some cases, such as rural areas, schools provide the only mental health services Fresh out of graduate school I started my professional career with a in the community.