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988 Enters Its Fourth Year as Demand Grows and the Mental Health and Substance Use Landscape Shifts

Demand for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline continues to grow as the national hotline marks its fourth anniversary in July, with the volume of calls, texts, and chats 15% higher than a year earlier and up nearly 50% from two years ago.
The 988 service has received 23.3 million contacts since its launch in July 2022, including 15.8 million calls, 4.2 million texts, and 3.4 million chats. Monthly contact volume has steadily increased, consistently surpassing 600,000 contacts per month over the past year.

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  • New KFF/CNN Survey on Mental Health Finds Young Adults in Crisis; More Than a Third Say Their Mental Health Keeps Them from Doing Normal Activities

    News Release

    Most Adults Have Not Heard About New 988 National Suicide Prevention Hotline An overwhelmingly majority (90%) of Americans believe the nation is in the midst of a mental health crisis, and young adults appear to be suffering the most, a new KFF-CNN survey on mental health in America reveals. A third (34%) of adults under age 30 rate their mental health as “only fair” or “poor,” compared to 19% of those ages 30 and older.…

  • KFF/CNN Mental Health In America Survey

    Report

    The latest KFF/CNN partnership survey examines growing concerns regarding mental health in America, particularly at a time of economic uncertainty and the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. This report looks at how mental health impacts U.S. adults, including younger adults, LGBT adults, Hispanic adults, and the uninsured, while also bringing awareness to the new 988 crisis hotline.

  • Five Key Findings on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders by Race/Ethnicity

    Issue Brief

    Rapidly rising rates of deaths by suicide and drug overdose among people of color, along with disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, further underscore inequities in access to mental health care and treatment and highlight the importance of centering equity in diagnostics, care, and treatment.

  • Mental Health Parity at a Crossroads

    News Release

    With federal agencies preparing to update parity regulations and Congress considering reforms, our new report explains existing parity requirements, including who they apply to and how their enforced, and highlights key policy issues raised by regulators and advocates that could be addressed in the future. Those issues include: Simplifying parity standards to make it easier for apples-to-apples comparisons between behavior health and medical benefits needed to assess compliance. Taking a closer look at how insurers are…

  • Mental Health Parity at a Crossroads

    Issue Brief

    This brief discusses federal mental health parity protections -- what they are, who they apply to, who enforces them and key policy issues as Congress and federal agencies evaluate improvements to the law to address gaps in mental health coverage and access.

  • Do States with Easier Access to Guns have More Suicide Deaths by Firearm?

    Issue Brief

    The recent mass shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo have catalyzed discussion around mental health and gun policy. In the same week that the federal Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed strengthening background checks for young adults, adding incentives for red flag laws, and reducing access to guns for individuals with a domestic violence history, the Supreme Court struck down New York’s “proper cause” requirement for concealed carry allowances. In this issue brief, we use the…

  • As the U.S. Prepares to Launch a National Three-Digit Number for the Mental Health Crisis Hotline in July, Data Show Suicide Death Rates Increased in the Decade from 2010 to 2020, Especially Among People of Color

    News Release

    As the federal government prepares to launch the national three-digit number “988” for the mental health crisis hotline next month, a new KFF analysis shows that suicide death rates increased by 12 percent in the decade from 2010 to 2020 -- with death rates rising fastest among people of color, younger individuals, and people who live in rural areas. The number of suicide deaths peaked at 48,344 in 2018 and then decreased slightly in 2019…

  • Examining Prior Authorization in Health Insurance

    Policy Watch

    This post explains what's known about how insurers use prior authorization as a tool to control costs and encourage cost-effective care, the state and federal laws that govern it, and ongoing policy debates over efforts to impose standards to limit or regulate its use.