Gubernatorial Candidate
Bev Perdue
http://www.bevperdue.com/index.asp
We must get serious about the goal of quality health care for all North Carolinians. As our next Governor, I will take unprecedented steps toward achieving this goal.
I am proud that Adam Searing of the North Carolina Health Access Coalition has praised my plans for immediate expansion of health coverage in our state as containing "the most significant changes in health care access in North Carolina in, quite literally, decades." To read more, please go to www.bevperdue.com/healthcare.
I do not believe in separating mental from physical health care. An essential element of our health care goal must be assuring access to quality mental health services.
Research has established that many patients have mixed mental and physical health issues. We need to break down barriers to the coordination of mental and physical health care. As North Carolina’s next Governor, I want to establish the national model for an integrated approach to behavioral and primary health services for adults and children with mental illnesses.
North Carolina’s Medicaid program has recently moved to the forefront in emphasizing the importance of a “medical home” for the primary care of adults and children. Our Community Care of North Carolina has developed a very cost-effective and quality-driven model of statewide case management through health care community networks. We need to extend this kind of collaboration and community network to the delivery of mental health services.
In my view, the concept of a medical home should play a major role in helping to revitalize our badly-tattered mental health system within and outside of Medicaid. Patients with severe mental illness especially need the security of a medical home as well as strong in-patient and out-patient professional services. We should also strive to define a basic level of mental health services to which needy patients should have access.
I know that improving our mental health system is easier said than done. We will need to adopt a disciplined approach with lots of two-way learning between government officials and the mental health community. That will require sound leadership, policies and coordination throughout our state DHHS.
As Chair of the state's Health and Wellness Trust Fund, I have led advances in preventive health care, rural health services, prescription drug assistance, and addressing access disparities. As Governor, I will be directly involved in taking on our mental health care challenges and pledge to be the leader we need to fix our mental health care system.
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