Perspectives of Mental Health Stakeholders on Health Care Reform

Abstract

Because of their extensive use of public benefits programs, people with serious mental illness are disproportionately affected by health care reform legislation. This article is a qualitative exploration of the experiences with health reform of people with mental illness and mental health case managers in a Midwestern urban area. Individuals who participated in these focus groups and interviews had definite opinions on health reform, some similar to the U. S. public and some quite different. In particular, public program beneficiaries were particularly concerned with losing what they perceived to be satisfactory coverage; case managers feared greater bureaucracy and more paperwork.

Keywords:

• mental illness
• health care policy
• health care reform
• mental health social work