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A New Executive Order and Homelessness and Mental Illness

This brief examines data on homelessness and mental illness against the backdrop of President Trump’s executive order aimed at removing unhoused people from the streets and enabling more involuntary civil commitments for psychiatric institutional care. This approach could reverse a decades-long shift in treatment approaches for people with serious mental illnesses that moved people away from long-term psychiatric institutions toward community-based treatment settings.

Also: Five Key Facts About People Experiencing Homelessness

At the Three-Year Mark, Demand for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Continues to Grow

How Might Changes to the ACA Marketplace Impact Enrollees with Mental Health Conditions?

The Impact of Gun Violence on Children and Adolescents

Mental Health and Substance Use State Fact Sheets

Access and coverage

  • Mental Health Parity at a Crossroads

    More than 25 years after the first federal mental health parity protections were put in place, adequate coverage for behavioral health care remains elusive. This brief explains the federal behavioral health parity requirements and sets out key policy issues.

  • Section 1115 Waiver Watch: Contingency Management

    Of the 800,000 Medicaid enrollees aged 12 to 64 with a diagnosed stimulant use disorder in 2019, about 20% were in states that now have approved 1115 Medicaid waivers for contingency management services.

  • The Landscape of School-Based Mental Health Services

    In the 2024-2025 school year, 18% of students utilized school-based mental health services. This issue brief explores the landscape of mental health services, including services offered, utilization, barriers, and funding, as well as recent federal actions.

  • 5 Key Facts about Medicaid Coverage for Adults with Mental Illness

    Nationwide, an estimated 52 million nonelderly adults live with mental illness, and Medicaid covers nearly one in three (29%) of them, or about 15 million adults.

  • What Federal Medicaid Cuts Could Mean for the Opioid Epidemic

    Medicaid covers 47% of all nonelderly adults with OUD and is the primary coverage source among those receiving treatment services. This brief offers a look at what federal Medicaid spending cuts could mean for this population.

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  • Medicaid’s Role in Financing Behavioral Health Services for Low-Income Individuals

    Issue Brief

    This issue brief provides an overview of Medicaid’s role in financing behavioral health services. It includes information on eligibility, benefits, service delivery, access to care, and spending. It also discusses the potential impact of Medicaid restructuring as proposed in the Better Care Reconciliation Act.

  • Would States Eliminate Key Benefits if AHCA Waivers are Enacted?

    Issue Brief

    This analysis offers a window into how insurers could respond if the Affordable Care Act's essential health benefits requirement is rolled back, a change being considered by Congressional leaders and allowed through state waivers by the House-passed American Health Care Act as a potential way for lowering premiums.

  • Medicaid’s Role in Behavioral Health

    Other

    This infographic highlights Medicaid's role in facilitating access to behavioral health treatment and the impact of potential reductions in federal Medicaid financing on behavioral health coverage and access to services.

  • Medicaid Restructuring Under the American Health Care Act and Implications for Behavioral Health Care in the US

    Issue Brief

    This brief outlines Medicaid’s role for people with behavioral health conditions and the implications of the American Health Care Act for these enrollees. It includes information on the potential impact of ending the enhanced federal financing for newly eligible adults, removing essential health benefits from state plan amendments, and converting federal Medicaid funding into a per capita cap.

  • Linking Medicaid and Supportive Housing: Opportunities and On-the-Ground Examples

    Issue Brief

    There is evidence that supportive housing can contribute to improved outcomes for people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness. It can also advance community integration of seniors and people with disabilities. Medicaid does not pay for room and board, but it can pay for many housing-related services for Medicaid beneficiaries. This issue brief discusses how Medicaid can support integrated strategies and profiles three initiatives that illustrate different approaches to linking Medicaid and supportive housing.

  • What Are the Current Costs and Outcomes Related to Mental Health and Substance Abuse Disorders?

    Feature

    Mental health and substance use disorders, including addiction to opioids, are the leading cause of disease burden in the United States, and the U.S. has the highest mortality rate for these disorders among similarly wealthy countries. This slideshow explores the prevalence, outcomes, access to care, and costs of mental health disorders and substance abuse in the United States.

  • Kaiser Health Tracking Poll: April 2016

    Report

    The April Kaiser Health Tracking Poll examines the role of health care issues in the presidential election. Health care is one of the top four issues mentioned by voters when asked which issues they most want to hear candidates discuss in the campaign, but half as many cite health care as mention the economy and jobs. It also examines the public’s experiences with prescription painkiller abuse and access to mental health care, as well as their views on efforts to combat painkiller and heroin addiction. It also asks about confidence in the safety of the drinking water supply in the wake of the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Mich., and their views of the government’s performance.