States Have Cut $1.7B in Mental Health Care Funding
Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have reduced their mental health budgets by nearly $1.7 billion since fiscal year 2009, according to a report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The report found that California, New York and Illinois collectively accounted for $1.2 billion in mental health budget cuts. According to NAMI, the budget cuts were exacerbated in June with the expiration of $87 billion in federal stimulus aid to state Medicaid programs, which led states to shift funds from mental health services to their Medicaid programs. AP/San Francisco Chronicle.
- "28 States, DC Cut $1.7B in Mental Health Funding" (Sedensky, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/9).