Carter Center forum highlights need for earlier mental health care

The Carter Center hosted its 30th annual Mental Health Forum, continuing the legacy of former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

The event is dedicated to advancing mental health policy, systems, and practice across the state of Georgia by bringing together state leaders, experts in the field, and advocates.

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy, who helped get the 2008 federal Mental Health Parity Act passed, spoke at the event, according to Georgia Public Broadcasting.

He said Georgia could do more in the area of prevention.

“Right now, we pay for the most costly care because we wait until it becomes a crisis,” Kennedy said. “No surprise; if you waited for cancer to be Stage 4, you’d end up spending a lot more money than if you did much more, early on, to screen.”

Georgia passed its own Mental Health Parity Act in 2022 and recently launched a mental health parity centralized dashboard to help track issues with insurance coverage for mental health care claims. 

Also at the event, Commissioner Kevin Tanner of the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities gave an update of the agency’s plans and several panels discussed topics from immigration to caregiving needs.