Mental Health Care and National Health Insurance

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxii

   PDF

2. The White Paper

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Overview

      • David Upton

      Pages 3-16

   3. Mental Illness/Emotional Problems

      • David Upton

      Pages 17-22

   4. What Conditions Should Be Covered?

      • David Upton

      Pages 23-32

   5. Extent of Coverage; Liabilities of Limited Coverage

      • David Upton

      Pages 33-48

   6. Who Should Provide Mental Health Care?

      • David Upton

      Pages 49-111

   7. Mental Health Care and Its Relationship to General Medical-Surgical Care of the Future

      • David Upton

      Pages 113-126

   8. The Poor Image of Psychotherapy as a Roadblock to Coverage: A Corrected View and Some Thoughts on Validation

      • David Upton

      Pages 127-137

   9. Attitudes That Affect Mental Health Care Coverage; The Psychiatrist in Perspective

      • David Upton

      Pages 139-141

   10. Epilogue

       • David Upton

       Pages 143-164

3. Points of View

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 165-165

      PDF

   2. Richard H. Beinecke and Bertram S. Brown

      • Richard H. Beinecke, Bertram S. Brown

      Pages 167-204

   3. Robert L. DuPont

      • Robert L. DuPont

      Pages 205-206

   4. Henry A. Foley

      • Henry A. Foley

      Pages 207-215

   5. Robert W. Gibson

      • Robert W. Gibson

      Pages 217-226

   6. Milton Greenblatt

      • Milton Greenblatt

      Pages 227-239

   7. Zigmond M. Lebensohn

      • Zigmond M. Lebensohn

      Pages 241-252

   8. Judd Marmor

      • Judd Marmor

      Pages 253-256

   9. Philip R. A. May

      • Philip R. A. May

      Pages 257-259

The burial societies of the Romans were, essentially, private group insurance programs. So were the protection funds of medieval guilds. Largely through the efforts of labor unions, by 1968 more than two-thirds of the labor force in U.S. industry was covered by group life and health insurance plans mostly provided (as fringe benefits) by employers. Today the proportion is even higher, and the establishment of national health insurance, to be sponsored by government, is being debated in the halls of Congress. Complete medical care for the citizenry, with health professionals partly or wholly salaried by a government agency, is now standard in many coun­ tries, including those of eastern Europe, most of the British commonwealth (including Australia, Canada, and New Zealand), several Latin American countries, Greece, Turkey, Sweden, and of course China, the USSR, and eastern Europe. The major alternative scheme, in which the government provides reimbursement for private care, is employed by several other West­ ern nations, including Norway, Denmark, Austria, West Germany, and Spain. Both of these methods of government coverage exist for certain groups in the United States: the former for military personnel, service-connected or impecunious veterans, and the indigent mentally ill; the latter for those cov­ ered under the 1965 amendment to the Social Security Act. However, most health insurance in the United States is private, much of it operating on a group basis.

• care
• emotion
• health
• health care
• psychotherapy

• Fort Belvoir, United States Army Mental Health Clinic, USA

  David Upton

• Los Angeles County Community Mental Health Center Systems, USA

  David Upton

Policies and ethics