2020 devastated US mental health — healing must be a priority

2020 devastated US mental health — healing must be a priority

Posted on February 23, 2021

Opinion piece by Daniel Gillison, NAMI CEO and Andy Keller, president and CEO of Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute focused on access to care and how people suffering from inadequately treated mental health issues disproportionately drive excess medical costs. The crisis is now of such magnitude that a failure by legislators and policy makers to shore-up an overwhelmed mental health care system could cripple recovery. Post-COVID forecasts warn that the cost of treating widespread anxiety and depression will create a $1.6 trillion drag on the U.S. economy. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates that untreated mental illness already costs us up to $300 billion annually due to lost productivity and associated costs due to absenteeism, employee turnover and increases in medical and disability expenses.