In July, we witnessed a victory for those living with mental health or addiction issues here in the state of Connecticut. Gov. Ned Lamont had just signed the mental health parity bill into law. Insurance companies will soon be required to provide annual reports that detail their mental health and substance abuse recovery coverage. With the rate of suicides among children up 73 percent in the last decade, the opioid crisis taking life after life, and now these new mysterious illnesses from vaping, this legislation could not have come at a better time.
While It is true the mental health and addiction landscape in our state is improving in some areas, it still lacks in others. The last legislative session in Hartford failed for the second straight year to implement a law that would require insurance companies to cover services provided by certified peers. These peers are specially trained to aid in the recovery journey of people in their community. Before going any further a question, Why are peers important?
First and foremost, a peer is a unique member of a person’s treatment team; a peer has experience with mental illness or addiction, and it is used to create trust between themselves and the person they are trying to help. A traditional mental health treatment team may have several professionals on it; these may consist of a Licenced Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), a psychologist, a psychiatrist, and so on. In many cases, it is against the policy of any professional to disclose any lived experience they might have had with mental illness or addiction with their client. A peer in recovery will not only share their story with whoever they are working with; they use it as a tool to create common ground; it generates hope by showing that recovery is indeed possible.
Peers in recovery have been using these proven methods for years; one of the best-known examples started back in 1935. Alcoholics Anonymous, more commonly referred to as AA, is an organization made up of people from all walks of life, they come together and fuel self-supporting groups all over the world. Thousands of people over the years have found encouragement and hope from people just like them, people who knew what it was like to fight addiction. The same method, peer to peer support, has been proven to help in other areas of life. From grief support groups after suffering the loss of a loved one to trauma survivors and victims of sexual assault, it is a basic need to be in a safe space with people who understand you.
The bill that failed to pass this past session was HB 5270, its title was, An Act Concerning Peer Support Specialists and Requiring Health Insurance Coverage for Outpatient Peer Support Services Provided By Certified Peer Support Specialists. As important as this issue is, I have learned after reaching out to local leaders that this will not be addressed in the upcoming legislative session, it will instead be tabled until 2021. I believe this is not only a lost opportunity to provide a higher quality of mental health and addiction care across the state but also will end up costing the state more money the longer this measure is ignored.
Once this law passes, it opens the door to services that are not yet available in Connecticut; one example of this is a Peer Respite. If you are not familiar with a respite I will describe it like this, imagine an environment similar to what you would find in a bed and breakfast. It is a warm homelike setting, non-threatening and welcoming. These are methods of diversion that would redirect a person from a psychiatric hospital to a short-term voluntary program that is staffed by others who have histories of receiving psychiatric care. Anyone who is experiencing a decline in their mental wellbeing can sign themselves into a respite. A typical stay is 3 – 5 days, and they are completely free to come and go as they please. Right now, in Connecticut, a person experiencing psychosocial stressors; their only option is a hospital.
A bed in a traditional hospital setting can cost anywhere from $1,500 – 2,000 per night. If the person was brought in through the ER, you could add almost $5,000 to the bill. A respite could operate and cut over 50 percent of the per night cost, and the ER fees would be eliminated. A respite would also offer more interaction than one would find in a traditional treatment setting; this is especially true on the weekends. It is rare to find sufficient levels of professional staff on most psychiatric units over the weekends; a respite would have the same level of staffing regardless of the day.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) website, as of 2013, 35.2 percent of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) recipients qualified based on a diagnosed mental health condition. With thousands of hospital stays every year in our state alone, it is easy to see how costly the old way of doing things can be. In an April 2018 article, the Connecticut Mirror reported a cost of over $560,000 a year for each patient treated at the Connecticut Valley Hospital.
Here is what you need to know. First, peer support is evidence-based and proven with years of success. Second, it is cost-effective and will save more money with every peer added to the workforce. Third, there is a shortage of mental health professionals across the country. In Connecticut, there are well over 1100 trained Peer Specialists that could enter the workforce immediately. Lastly, the state already believes in the effectiveness of the peer to peer support system. The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) continues to provide funding to the organizations that are tasked with the training and certification of these peers. If there were no value to be had the state would not provide funding to this resource.
Mental health is important, and I believe it is necessary to provide the best services possible to the population who need it. With one of every five people in the United States living with Mental illness, I do not believe it is appropriate to put this issue on the back burner until 2021. If you believe in what peer support can bring to the table, I encourage you to write your state representatives and senators today. Ask them to support and pass the legislation needed to get Certified Peer Specialists into the field as soon as possible. The next legislative session starts on February 5th, 2020. Don’t let another year pass without action from our leaders in Hartford. Thank you.
