Despite a 2008 federal law that requires insurers to cover mental health and substance abuse treatment like other illnesses, families say insurers continue to deny such coverage, making new state laws essential.
Mental health in Michigan
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
In Michigan mental health crisis, a tug-of-war over too few social workers
Michigan schools, mental health agencies and hospitals fight over too few social workers. Could relaxed licensing, better pay help?
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
After battle, retreat for young people mulling suicide OK’d near Ann Arbor
After months of opposition from some neighbors, the parents of a young man who died by suicide won approval for a residential center on 75 wooded acres for struggling young adults. They say nature, and peer support, will help in the healing.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
New psychiatric unit in northern Michigan to address severe care gap
The 18-bed psychiatric unit in Cheboygan is scheduled to serve 22 northern Michigan counties this summer, where there is an acute shortage of mental health professionals.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
As child mental health rates rise, Michigan sharply cuts residential beds
The state wants to limit the number of seriously ill children placed in institutional settings. But it’s getting pushback from some parents whose children are too volatile to stay at home and need longer-term residential care that’s in short supply.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
A new Michigan legislative committee on mental health gives parents hope
Michigan’s thread-bare mental health system fails children in crisis. Can a new committee filled with lawmakers who have experience in healthcare or first-hand knowledge of mental health challenges bring focus?
Posted inTalent & Education
Dexter schools sue social media giants, citing child mental health crisis
Dexter is one of a number of districts joining a federal suit against the developers of Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, YouTube and others, contending their ‘addictive’ algorithms target vulnerable children and teens.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan youth in mental health crisis: Could more screening help?
Advocates endorse national panel guidelines to screen children aged 8 to 18 for anxiety disorders.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
‘Staggering’ rise in overdoses, suicides for African Americans in Michigan
The rate of opioid overdose deaths doubled among Black residents over a recent five-year period. Suicide rates jumped 88 percent. Advocates say isolation, treatment disparities and the ubiquity of fentanyl in street drugs are behind the increases.
Posted inMichigan Health Watch
Michigan sees spike in 988 mental health calls. But what happens next?
Michigan’s new three-digit hotline has produced a jump in calls by people in mental health distress since it began last summer. But advocates say the next step – continued treatment for those callers – is fraught with delays because of a shortage of trained professionals.