This 2020 presidential candidate just announced a $100 billion plan for mental health care, and it’s groundbreaking
Two of the biggest—and most ignored—issues affecting Americans today are substance abuse and mental illness. Depression diagnoses have increased over the past several years, and opioid addiction is on the rise. Which is why Senator Amy Klobuchar—2020 presidential hopeful—is addressing mental health and substance abuse issues in her latest policy proposal.
The New York Times reports that today, May 3rd, Klobuchar unveiled a $100 billion plan to help curb addiction rates and improve mental health care. The Minnesota Democrat’s proposal is split into three prongs: prevention, treatment, and “ongoing recovery.” If passed, it would fund mental health and addiction programs at schools, implement opioid prescription monitoring at doctor’s offices, add beds in mental health clinics, and make sure that insurance plans cover mental health care (currently a requirement under Obamacare).
Klobuchar’s plan also seeks to fund job training for recovering addicts and would do away with the incarceration of nonviolent drug offenders. De-stigmatizing substance abuse and mental illness is also a priority for the candidate, and her plan includes campaigns to raise awareness about these issues.
I love my dad. He struggled with alcohol for a long time, but with the help of family, faith, community and treatment he got better. In his own words he was “pursued by grace.” I believe everyone should have that chance. https://t.co/BBAGDuJd0H
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) May 3, 2019
In 2017, an estimated 21 million people needed substance use treatment, but fewer than 20 percent were able to access it. With my plan, more people will get the help they need and the care they deserve.
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) May 3, 2019
Here are a few ways we can do that:
1. Promote early intervention and prevention tactics for substance use
2. Expand access to treatment for addiction and mental health issues
3. Improve training for health care professionals
4. Support ongoing recovery
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) May 3, 2019
The senator’s plans to fund this policy are also unique. A Medium post written by her team explains that to fund these changes, drug manufacturers would be charged a two-cent fee for every milligram of “active opioid ingredient” in a pain medication. The idea, according to the post, is to “make opioid manufacturers pay their fair share to fix the crisis they helped create by crafting a Master Settlement Agreement that provides money directly to the states for the cost of addiction treatment and social services.” Funding would also be obtained by taxing hedge fund managers on investment earnings.
Klobuchar has a personal connection to these problems. Her father struggled with alcoholism, a fact that she discussed during the Kavanaugh hearings in September. On the May 3rd episode of CBS This Morning, the senator explained how her father’s battle with addiction informed her proposal.
"He had three DWIs, and what I saw was on the third one, that made him go to treatment," she explained. "That was it because he was facing jail time. And when he went to treatment he was, in his words, 'pursued by grace,' and so that has pushed me—as well as my work as a prosecutor—to say, 'You know, we want to give people a chance.'"
Sat down this morning with @NorahODonnell and the team at @CBSThisMorning to talk about my dad, his story of overcoming addiction and my plan to make sure everyone has the same chance he did to get better. pic.twitter.com/ugR8QfkEiz
— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) May 3, 2019
People struggling with addiction and mental illness deserve a chance, and this proposal could be a huge step in the right direction. We hope that the other 2020 candidates are taking note.
