MENTAL HEALTH CARE NEEDED IN DETERMINING BUDGET

The latest roller-coaster TennCare dilemma concerning the status of 200,000
enrollees is high on drama and low on common sense, especially when it
comes to providing mental health services to consumers.

Regardless of the decision the courts ultimately make about TennCare,
Tennessee must make every effort to provide treatment to adults and
children with severe mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders.

These Tennessee citizens face acute challenges such as schizophrenia, major
depression, bipolar disorder, alcoholism and drug addiction.

In cases of substance abuse, TennCare as it currently operates isn't
meeting the needs of the patients it serves, even for those patients who
survive the latest roll call and remain eligible for the program.

>From a financial perspective, the state usually winds up footing the bill
for these tragedies, which costs much more than providing preventive
treatment before crises emerge.

Even worse, the emotional and physical toll on individuals' lives is far
more taxing than anything the state pays in such instances.

A significant number of adults and children facing the challenges of mental
illness and substance abuse in Tennessee are people from low-income
backgrounds, the exact population TennCare was established to care for.

They cannot afford the assistance they need without the program.

Our state's budget crisis is legitimate and complicated, but a solution
must not come at the expense of the state's most vulnerable citizens.

The Tennessee Coalition for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services
urges the state not to let mental health and substance abuse care become
the latest casualties of the state's budget battle.

The war against mental illness and substance abuse is one we can't afford
to lose.

ANITA BERTRAND