In the “Mind” column in the New York Times (7/10, D6, Subscription Publication), Richard A. Friedman, MD, a professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, writes, “Now comes the Affordable Care Act combining parity with the individual mandate for health insurance. As Dr. Dilip V. Jeste, president of the American Psychiatric Association, told me, ‘This law has the potential to change the course of life for psychiatric patients for the better, and in that sense it is both humane and right.'” While the law is not perfect, Dr. Friedman asserts that “on the whole, the Affordable Care Act is reason to cheer. Americans with mental illness finally have the prize that has eluded patients and clinicians for decades: the recognition that psychiatric illness should be on a par with all other medical disorders, and the near-universal mandate to make that happen.”
Related Links:
— “Good News for Mental Illness in Health Law, “Richard Friedman, The New York Times, July 9, 2012.