The financial impact, challenges of the U.S. mental health crisis

Yahoo Finance’s Brian Sozzi, Myles Udland, and Julie Hyman speak with Chuck Ignoglia, National Council for Mental Wellbeing President & CEO, about the mental health crisis in the U.S.

Video Transcript

JULIE HYMAN: It is, indeed, Mental Health Awareness Month. And we want to talk about the state of the industry that is out there to serve people who are having mental health or addiction challenges. Chuck Ingoglia is joining us now. He is the National Council for Mental Well-Being President and CEO.

And, Chuck, you guys came out with some really interesting figures on your industry. One that really stuck out to us is that 40% of mental health and addiction treatment organizations say they have less than a one-year financial window to operate. What does that mean for the industry? What's happened to the funding sources over the course of the pandemic? And what is the next year going to look like as a result?

CHUCK INGOGLIA: Well, Julie, thank you so much for the opportunity to be here. And you know, it's really an interesting issue. You know, our industry are mostly not for profit organizations who serve low-income individuals. So even before the pandemic, you know, a good year was a 1% margin. And that was kind of few and far between.

And as you know, during the pandemic, all of us have had to change how we do business. And historically, mental health and addiction treatment is a face to face business. We sit down together. And so lots of organizations have had to change the way they deliver care. And you just couldn't do as much face to face care, which led to them having to lay off staff or close programs. And as you point out, that affects their financial situation.

JULIE HYMAN: And, Chuck, what's also interesting to me is it seems, at least on an anecdotal basis, that corporations are becoming more aware of mental health and giving more accessibility and services to their employees. And so I wonder, as we talk about a k-shapred recovery, income gaps, and gaps in everything, are we also seeing a mental health treatment gap where if you have a job, you have more accessibility to treatment? If you don't, or if you're on the lower income side of the spectrum, because these organizations that you're talking about are financially challenged, they're not getting, necessarily-- the people who need the help most are not always getting it?

CHUCK INGOGLIA: Yeah. Well, I think, unfortunately, I don't-- I don't think it matters what your income is. You're going to have challenges accessing mental health and substance use care in this country, principally because we don't have enough people who work in our industry. Every one of our member organizations that I talk to says that their number one challenge is hiring staff right now.

And I think it's even worse sometimes for people who are employed and have private insurance, because many professionals in this industry don't participate in insurance. So folks have to pay out of pocket and then get reimbursed. So even if you're employed, I think you have a hard time accessing care.

We're one of the industries that has the highest rates of cash only at the psychiatry level. And so I think this is a challenge all the way around, no matter what your economic situation is.

BRIAN SOZZI: Chuck, more broadly, in corporate America right now, one of their biggest challenges, and it's something we've been talking about all week here, is the inability to hire people. And the labor shortage is getting worse across the country. Do you think one of the reasons why employers can't find employees is because the pandemic is-- it has impacted people's physical and mental health to the point where they can't necessarily go out there for a job interview?

CHUCK INGOGLIA: I think that's certainly part of it. I think people are also reassessing, you know, what's important to them and where do they want to put their energy. I think we talk about the opioid epidemic, I think there's another interesting dynamic here is for some jobs, you have to have kind of a drug test before you can get hired. So I think there's got to be a larger kind of conversation of, how do we support people who have a mental health or substance use challenge so that they can actually be part of the workforce?

JULIE HYMAN: Chuck, really important issues, and, obviously, not just to consider this month, but all of the time. So hope to catch up with you again as the year progresses-- Chuck Ingoglia is National Council for Mental Well-Being President and CEO. Thanks so much for your time this morning.