(KMAland) — A national mental health advocacy group called Inseparable The report was released About the development of 988 Crisis Line For people experiencing a mental emergency.
While Iowa received high marks, questions remain about how it will pay for its services. The report calls for Iowa and other states to expand 988 call center capacity, increase the number and availability of mobile mental health response units, create more crisis stabilization centers, and find a way to pay for it all.
Iowa is 90% of calls We are working on assembling a mobile-enabled team of over two dozen in a timely manner.
Inseparable chief advocacy officer Angela Kimball said 988 mental health services needed to be available 24/7 to anyone who needed them.
“When there’s a fire, the fire department is going to show up, regardless of your ability to pay,” Kimball explained. “We don’t ask for your insurance information first. The police show up. They don’t ask for your insurance or if you have a payer first.”
Iowa is considering several ways to pay for 988 services, including paying an additional fee, billing private insurers or requesting funding from the federal Medicaid program.
Kimball said the 988 system needed to have effective communication between mental health, emergency responders and police, adding that mental health emergencies carried significant risks so mishandling was not an option.
“One in five fatal police shootings involves someone suffering from a mental illness,” Kimball said. “Too often, the lack of access to appropriate support leads to tragic outcomes.”
Inseparable data shows that imposing a 98-cent surcharge on Iowans’ phone service could raise more than $3 million a year, and the report explores ways to hold service accountable regardless of how the fee is paid.