MANAGED MENTAL HEALTH: Union-Tribune Says ‘Keep An Eye On It’
In response to reports that San Diego County's managed mental health system is falling apart in the hands of a private company hired to take it over, a San Diego Union-Tribune editorial says county officials "should have been leery about the promises made by mental health managed care companies." While the piece admonishes that managed mental health "is new territory for the public sector" and that "grandiose claims about providing immensely better service with less money shouldn't have been accepted at face value," the editorial concedes it is not yet "time to abandon managed care for mental health clients." The Union-Tribune concludes: "If [United Behavioral Health] cannot straighten out the system quickly, the contract should be put back out to bid in the private sector. Implemented properly, privatizing mental health care should work -- but only if the private company lives up to its public contract" (12/1).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.