1. American Academy of Pediatrics. “Insurance Coverage of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for Children and Adolescents: A Consensus Statement.” American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Pediatrics, 1 Oct. 2000, pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/106/4/860.

Background: As the rate of mental illnesses in adolescence continues to increase yet there is still not enough to be done to help low income families cover the cost of medication.  Insurance companies limit the options and narrow down a track that must be followed, not to a patient’s specific needs, but rather a basic generalized planAccess, coordination, and monitoring are the three key issues that must be addressed.  In terms of access, medicine can be very difficult to obtain.  External processes are mandated to receive approval.  There must be a direct line of communication between medical and mental health services.  Because the sectors do not properly communicate with each other, responsibilities are left unclear.  Thus, why families should have direct coordination with health services.  Another remaining issue is monitoring.  Families are left unclear on the information regarding the quality of services, otherwise guidelines are not specified to uninformed clients.

How I Used It:  I used the article to provide concrete evidence for my claim and support my definition argument.  I used the 3 factors they listed as to why it is difficult to access mental health care and provided evidence to back it up.

2. Wiechers, Ilse R. “Prescribing of Psychotropic Medications to Patients Without a Psychiatric Diagnosis.” Psychiatric Services, 1 Dec. 2013, ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ps.201200557.

Background: A study was conducted to compare individual’s ability to obtain a prescription with and without a diagnosis.  The end result was that a majority of individuals without a prescription were able to have access that medicine.  It appeared that patients within an older age range were less likely to get a prescriptionWhen further investigating the study, it is shown that the categories were broken up into medication (with six subgroups) and diagnosis. It was then proven that age had a big influence on the results.  The end results proving the hypothesis to be true.

How I Used It:  I used this article to prove that access to prescription medications can be biased based on a patient’s age.  The evidence that I provided proves how broken our healthcare system is and convinces the reader by using facts from a study done specifically to prove my argument.

3. Ph.D., Rachel L. Garfield. “Health Reform and the Scope of Benefits for Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Services.” Psychiatric Services, 1 Nov. 2010, ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/ps.2010.61.11.1081.

Background: The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act provides protection for citizens in the united states to expand health insurance coverage, which includes providing mental health care for those who need.  Individuals suffering with severe disorders are required to go through external processes in order to obtain the medication needed  The way that the protection act works is it expands the coverage for those of a certain age or certain income, so those who do not fall within the specified category are left out.  Individuals who are uninsured most likely have low incomes and will not meet to requirement to for coverage.  States are allowed to set their own criteria for what deems appropriate to receive insurance coverage, and often times target individuals with more severe situations.  The laws created do not specify specific diagnoses or prescriptions but instead generalizes them so that those with specific needs cannot get essential medicine.

How I Used It: I used this article to support my causal argument on the effect of the disaster created by denying people health coverage.  I used the evidence to prove that there is still nothing being done to fix the problem and that many people are still suffering the consequences.

4. Sturm, Ronald, and Kenneth Wells. “Health Insurance May Be Improving-But Not for Individuals with Mental Illness.” Https://Www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/,

Background: As individuals suffering with mental illnesses continues to increase, the number of employers who are willing to provide benefits decreases.  People who suffer from such disorder are way more likely to experience poverty or unemployment thus will not be able to afford insurance on there own let alone the help they need.  The help that individuals need is there It is proven that people who suffer from mental health disorders most likely are uninsured why people who have no history of mental illness are insured.

How I Used It:  I used this article to point out the fact that individuals who are poor are even less likely to be covered of health insurance because of their unemployment, and/or may not be able to afford it on their own.  I also used evidence from the excerpt to point out the irony of how those who are financially less fortunate are also more likely to have mental health disorders.

5. Amirsadri, Alireza. “Economic Grand Rounds: Experience With Mandated Use of Generic Medications for Patients Covered by the Mental Health Safety Net.” Psychiatric Services, 1 July 2014, ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ps.201400075.

Background: In this article it was found that physicians were unaware of the cost of the medication they were prescribing.  But having them prescribe cheaper alternatives will not reduce pharmacy costs.  In order to do these pharmacies must stick to generic medication.  Thanks to the mandated generic psychotropic medication policy if medication was denied individuals could appeal and get access to generic medicine with lower costs.  Once applied the new plan significantly decreased the cost of prescriptions. The amount of prescribed medicine continued to increase meaning more patients were able to get the help they needed, as well as the number of individuals with covered benefits. 

How I Used It:  I actually found that this evidence, while very convincing, was a little too irrelevant to include in my essay so I did not end up using specific evidence, but I did keep the information I learned in mind while writing.

6. Evans, Elizabeth, and Maria Sullivan. Abuse and Misuse of Antidepressants, 14 Aug. 2014, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4140701/#:~:text=Antidepressants%20are%20abused%20at%20high,%2C%20and%20psychotic%2Dlike%20symptoms.

Background: This article focuses on the increase in the abuse and misuse of prescription drugs.  It explains that these medications are used by young teens who access them without a prescription of their own and instead end up stealing from friends or family members.

How I Used It:  I used this article for my rebuttal argument to prove that a prescription does not stop individuals from abusing medications.  I provided evidence to back up my claim and prove that a prescription on stands in the way of others getting the treatment they need.

7. Barlow, P. “Health Care Is Not a Human Right.” BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.), British Medical Journal, 31 July 1999, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1126951/.

Background: This article attempts to convince the reader that healthcare is not a basic human right.  They explain how considering this to be a right is difficult to define and that it would be hard to decide who must take responsibility of the cost.

How I Used It:  I Used this resource for my rebuttal argument by associating with the reader but than refuting the argument.  This article attempts to convince the reader that healthcare is not a basic human right but I was easily able to but this argument to rest by stating that this is purely an opinion, there are no facts the prove this and a system can be put in place.

8. “Four Reasons to Tax the Rich for Universal Healthcare.” FHC – Faith in Healthcare, 5 Nov. 2019, faithinhealthcare.org/fhc/four-reasons-tax-rich-universal-healthcare.

Background: This article made me realize that it is possible to justify taxing the wealthy for healthcare.  This argument used solid evidence and was very convincing.  It focused on each key point and how the system in place is very unfair and only benefits the wealthy, so taxing them for the healthcare of the less fortunate is a solid idea.

How I Used It:  This article was a great way to associate with the readers opposite opinion.  Many would say that it is unjust to force people to pay taxes for other s healthcare.  I used the evidence in this article to put this claim to rest and prove that taxing the wealthy is a good alternative to fix the system and the issue of no coverage for the less fortunate.

9. “Issue Brief: Access to Medications.” Mental Health America, http://www.mhanational.org/issues/issue-brief-access-medications.

Background: This article discusses the Deficit Reduction Act which reduces to amount of coverage that individuals can have access to and allows big companies to increase the costs and deny coverage.

How I Used It: : I used this article to highlight the errors within the acts out in place to protect citizens and help them afford healthcare.  I provided evidence that shows that the Deficit Reduction Act allows companies to add additional costs to their bills and even deny patients of care.

10. “Health Insurers Still Don’t Adequately Cover Mental Health Treatment.” NAMI, http://www.nami.org/Blogs/NAMI-Blog/March-2020/Health-Insurers-Still-Don-t-Adequately-Cover-Mental-Health-Treatment.

Background: This article discusses the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and how it generalized disorders and does not accommodate patients’ specific needs.  Health insurers do not accept certain insurance because they are not paid enough.

How I Used It: I provided strong evidence to support the truth behind the laws put in place that were meant to protect people and prove that they are just only out for the money and not the patient’s best interest.

11. Fischer, Alyssa. “Real-Talk: Mental Health Is Too Expensive.” Mixed Up Money, Mixed Up Money, 23 Jan. 2018, mixedupmoney.com/blog/mental-health-expensive. 

Background: This article discusses how a white middle class woman pays 200 dollars per therapy session. She talks about how this is expensive, even for her. If this is 20% of her monthly income, it would be very difficult for a lower-class person to get help.

How I Used it: I used a quote that showed the statistics of how much a person would be spending on average for mental health care if they were seen regularly. It pointed out how high these expenses really are.