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In the 1960s, California’s mental health system confined patients with minimal hearings. A 1966 report led to the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, granting rights and limiting forced hospitalization.
Lack of mental health resources traps Henry Gaymon in cycles of jail, brief treatment, and homelessness, as Louisiana jails struggle to care for mentally ill inmates due to deinstitutionalization.
Hazel Su is one of several hundreds who have migrated from Myanmar to the Bay Area to seek political asylum to resettle in the U.S. As an asylum seeker, Su is so focused on paying living expenses and helping family back home that she doesn't prioritize her own health. Despite learning about Medi-Cal covering people like her, Su finds that her options are too confusing to navigate and there are not enough community workers who can help.
People don't get to choose the illnesses that render them too disabled to work, but insurance companies have the power to approve or deny claims based on where in the body their condition exists.
People diagnosed with severe and persistent mental illness and trauma are more often denied disability coverage than those with physical impairments.
While insurance for physical ailments has improved steadily, coverage of mental health is decades out of step with the knowledge of its causes, impacts and treatment.
California's AB 1147 law now requires regional centers for developmental disabilities to follow the Public Records Act, boosting transparency in a $15 billion system serving 450,000 people.
