Who Is Underinsured?
When people first learn about Khesed Wellness I am always asked, “Who do you serve?”
My response, “The underinsured, which is almost everyone in the United States today.”
An underinsured person includes someone who does not have health insurance, and does not qualify for public insurance for free coverage. Also, underinsurance means someone has private insurance, and they do not have sufficient, or any, mental health coverage.
People of color, women, the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, families needing multiple providers, and millennials are at particular risk for insufficient mental health coverage. However, most in the U.S. today cannot afford the starting market-rate cost of $120 per counseling session.
Nationally, cost is the main reason people are underinsured, and why many do not get mental health support when they need it. 41 states report 7% or more of their population as underinsured, and that is just in regard to physical health coverage (1). According to the Colorado Health Institute, the top reason Denver residents do not get mental health care is because they cannot afford it. The second reason is the belief that insurance will not provide coverage (2).
Who is underinsured may surprise you, it has shocked me.
In graduate school I needed therapy, researched options, and I could not find anyone I could afford.
Lisa works at a tech startup as a contractor; she has self-employed health insurance.
Bill owns an insurance startup. His daughter is neurodiverse, and their policy does not have any specialists in network.
Why is this happening?
To understand why this is happening, we need to understand who runs the show in the mental health industry. Private and public insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, and government contracts oversee most industry revenue and activities. This means, the mental health industry is mostly led by for-profit companies known for producing the highest profit return possible to owners and investors, while workers and clients suffer. For example, pharmaceutical and biotechnology sales revenue increased from $534 billion to $775 billion between 2006 and 2015 (3).
How can you help?
There are ways, at no cost to you, that we can immediately help.
Promote organizations thoughtfully addressing these issues, like Therapy For Black Girls.
Share affordable and free local mental health resources like Khesed Wellness, support groups, a meditation app, and meetup groups in-person and online. Sharing increases awareness and normalizes mental health within our communities.
Talk with fellow underinsured friends to figure out a local business you know with part-time unused space, and connect your business contact with us.
If we all believe mental health is part of what it means to be human, then everyone deserves access to a mental health clinician they can afford. Let’s get creative and make this possible together.
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