Mental-health funding sought

PROVO — When it comes to providing help for the mentally ill, society can pay now or wait and pay a whole lot more later.

That's the message federal and state money managers need to understand, says LaMar Eyre, executive director for Wasatch Mental Health Center.

And cutting funding to the mental health programs when things are tight, he adds, only guarantees trouble in the future, especially with the population increasing.

The problem intensifies in hard economic times.

"During the bad years when there is no money, that's when we need it the most," Eyre said. "That's when the need is greatest. I don't like to overuse the word crisis, but that's what we have right now, a crisis."

Eyre says it will cost much more in the future if problems are left untreated.

"Just like with diabetes or heart disease — and mental illness is a disease of the brain — when you neglect a sick person, it gets worse."

Eyre said it's frustrating to see less money available for treatment when new treatments offers so much more hope than past treatment options.

Janina Chilton, spokeswoman for the Utah State Hospital, said a lack of money for mental-health services can create a house-of-cards situation. Eventually, it collapses upon itself.

"When people go without treatment, it impacts families and economics," Chilton said. "It's a Catch-22."

The funding problem begins in Washington, D.C., said Ted Terry, the associate director for care management services at Wasatch Mental Health.

Federal money is sent to the state for Medicaid patients who need mental health treatment, but with the requirement that the state and local agencies match the dollars with their own funds.

Terry said the number of Medicaid patients is growing, which means less money is being made available for indigent and Medicaid-ineligible patients, a group that is also growing.

There is less and less left for the ineligible patients who are then turned away unless they are in acute need, he said.

"We really work hard to refer them to someplace else but we're it, really," Terry said. "There's nowhere else for them."

As a result, many of those turned away end up in jails or hospital emergency rooms.