A Grassroots 5-Part Plan to Address Serious Mental Illness (SMI)

1. Reclassify Serious Mental Illness (SMI) from a behavioral condition to what it is, a neurological medical condition. This will unlock more research funding, help eliminate discrimination in treatment, insurance reimbursement, and the perception of SMI as a "behavioral" condition.

2. Reform HIPAA. We can work with federal legislators to change HIPAA law to ensure mental health professionals are legally permitted to share and receive critical diagnostic and treatment information with/from parent or caregivers of those with SMI.

3. Repeal Medicaid's Institute for Mental Disease (IMD) exclusion. If you become ill with a physical condition and need to go to the hospital, Medicaid will pay. Many people with SMI are too disabled to work full-time and are on Medicaid. If you become ill and need to go to a mental health hospital, Medicaid will not pay if you are between ages 21-65. A repeal will increase the number of psychiatric beds. We can work with federal legislators to repeal the exclusion.

4. Provide a full continuum of care. This will insure that SMI patients receive early intervention at all stages of their illnesses, long-term care when needed, and follow-up treatment (Medications and therapies) when they're released. It will provide lifetime management. We may need to work with legislators at the county, state and federal level to advocate for this.

5. Decriminalize serious mental illness (SMI). People suffering with other neurological conditions, like Alzheimer's and dementia, can get treatment promptly without being kicked out of their homes to wander the streets until they are arrested and put in jail rather than a hospital. We can work with state legislators and others to change the "must be a danger to self or others" criteria.

From the book Tomorrow Was Yesterday, by DeDe Ramadan