Morano on barriers to mental health and substance use care

Now, what are the key barriers to mental health and substance use care among veterans in New York State?

Well.

Veterans in the state continue to experience significant unmet mental health and substance use treatment needs despite high rates of health insurance coverage and access to VA benefits.

Think about that.

Even when people have insurance and are covered, they're still having difficulty.

for whatever reason, either accessing or taking advantage of the benefits that they're legally entitled to and that the taxpayers are paying for them to receive.

This gap in treatment is due to a lot of challenges, including difficulty navigating the behavioral health system and understanding available benefits, negative stigma in some quarters towards treatment,

geographic and logistical barriers, and increasing need for equity and cross-cultural competency training

to better identify the needs of female veterans, LGBTQ plus veterans, and veterans from racial and ethnic minority backgrounds.