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NAMI

A woman at a podium in front of a trifold poster. She is Laurie Coker, who is discussing a peer support and community-first model to mental health

In Winston-Salem, a community-first approach to mental illness

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In Winston-Salem, a community-first approach to mental illness - North Carolina Health News

Advocates, community members and government officials met at a nonprofit in Winston-Salem to promote a program which aims to integrate mentally ill people into their local communities.

By Yen Duong “Lord, please connect me to the people and the resources that is going to help me to become all that you have created me to be.” Around 2 a.m. on April 7, 2008, Pam Goodine called out a prayer to overcome her drug addictions, which she had been unable to do through […]

A blonde woman participant in the NAMI group at a conference table

Family members of people with mental illness find support, skills

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Family members of people with mental illness find support, skills - North Carolina Health News

NAMI’s Family-to-Family class, offered regularly by volunteers across the U.S., teaches families how to deal with a family member with mental illness.

By Yen Duong Getting screamed at for something you didn’t do might ruin your day. But for people who have family members with mental illness, unanticipated outbursts can be just another part of everyday life that they have to cope with. “I realized that taking [the screaming] personally wasn’t ever going to make anything any […]

shows the back of a wheelchair, with an old and wizened hand on the arm of the chair

Bill to focus on caregiving for NC’s older adults struggles for life

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Bill to focus on caregiving for NC’s older adults struggles for life - North Carolina Health News

Rep. Donna White, drawing on her own years of looking after her aging mother, says she won’t give up on her bill to form a panel to examine caregiving issues.

By Thomas Goldsmith Rep. Donna White (R-Clayton) spoke bluntly when asked this week about the prospects for the bill she co-sponsored to create a Task Force on Aging centered on increasingly tough issues for caregivers. The enabling legislation, House Bill 915, received a favorable report on April 30 from the House Committee on Homelessness, Foster […]

shows the silhouette of a brain and the silhouette of hands cradling the brain

Most states don’t do well with mental health parity, but others are setting an example for enforcement.

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Most states don’t do well with mental health parity, but others are setting an example for enforcement. - North Carolina Health News

Some states have involved mental health advocates in creating policies around mental health parity, and gotten more effective enforcement.

The last in our series on mental health parity laws and enforcement in North Carolina, and beyond. By Yen Duong In 2018, the national advocacy project, Parity Track, gave North Carolina an “F” on how well its statutes guarantee that people with mental health issues get treatment equal to those who require physical health interventions. […]

shows a red cross with the word Medicaid printed on it, in front of a pile of dollar bills. For Medicaid transformation

State audit: NC DHHS’s failure to set proper rates kept dollars from mental health patients

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State audit: NC DHHS’s failure to set proper rates kept dollars from mental health patients - North Carolina Health News

An audit says North Carolina paid out $439 million over three years that wound up sitting in reserve funds of state-funded mental health agencies serving Medicaid recipients and the uninsured.

By Thomas Goldsmith A state auditor’s report says North Carolina taxpayers paid an excess $439 million during a three-year period, money that wound up as cash reserves for managed care organizations charged with looking after people’s mental health problems. The money intended to treat Medicaid beneficiaries and uninsured people with mental illness instead stayed on […]

shows two silhouettes facing one another

Mental health providers struggle with disparities in the system

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Mental health providers struggle with disparities in the system - North Carolina Health News

Patients aren’t the only ones affected by how insurers often treat medical and behavioral health issues differently—providers are also struggling to get by.

The third in a series of stories about mental health parity. By Yen Duong Patients often struggle to find therapists, counselors or psychiatrists within their insurance networks—but many mental health providers don’t accept insurance and leave the paperwork for patients to file an out-of-network claim with their insurance companies. “In North Carolina, we have people […]

illustration shows birds emerging from someone's head, as a symbol for mental health issues, COVID

North Carolina gets a ‘F’ on how equally it treats mental and physical health issues

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North Carolina gets a ‘F’ on how equally it treats mental and physical health issues - North Carolina Health News

This is the first in a series of stories exploring mental health parity—treating mental and physical health equally—in North Carolina. What is parity, why do we rank behind other states, and what do these rankings mean? Future stories in this series will include stories of patients and providers trying to make it through the system, how the insurance appeals process works and how the North Carolina Department of Insurance tries to help.

By Yen Duong 49 out of 100, or a solid F. That’s the grade that North Carolina received on a report card in October on how well its laws support federal laws passed more than a decade ago calling for mental health to be treated on par with physical health. “Our F rating, we believe, […]

shows the back of a wheelchair, with an old and wizened hand on the arm of the chair

Got someone in your family who’s a caregiver? Give them a real gift this holiday.

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Got someone in your family who’s a caregiver? Give them a real gift this holiday. - North Carolina Health News

If there’s a person close to you who is engaged in caregiving, make sure they get a holiday too. Here are some tips.

By Yen Duong One of the best things about the holidays is gathering with loved ones, including folks who may require care, such as grandparents or older friends. During the holidays, family and friends may wonder how they can support people who are caring for those loved ones. Around 43.5 million Americans act as unpaid […]

shows the front of the legislative building in Raleigh, general assembly

Legislature Moves to Reduce Psychiatric Boarding in Hospital Emergency Rooms

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Legislature Moves to Reduce Psychiatric Boarding in Hospital Emergency Rooms - North Carolina Health News

A bill seeks to address the problem of people languishing in hospital EDs, waiting for a psychiatric bed, but mental health advocates decried the process.

By Rose Hoban In the waning days of this year’s legislative work session, lawmakers abruptly revived and passed a bill aimed at revising North Carolina’s laws to address the flood of people with mental health crises in hospital emergency departments. Officials from the state’s hospital association had convened administrators, advocacy organizations, academics, mental health professionals […]

shows the outside of the main building for DHHS in Raleigh

Lack of Housing for Mentally Ill Adults Pits NC Against US Government in Ongoing Legal Battle

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Lack of Housing for Mentally Ill Adults Pits NC Against US Government in Ongoing Legal Battle - North Carolina Health News

Five years after a settlement with the federal Dept. of Justice designed to stop warehousing people with mental illness in adult care homes, little has changed.

By Frank Taylor and Michael Gebelein Lawmakers created the adult care home system in North Carolina largely as a reaction to a national movement to move those with mental illness out of institutions during the 1970s and 1980s. But the nature of their solution has run afoul of the U.S. Department of Justice, which is […]

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