Modern health care's future is uncertain unless the medical community works together in providing health services to patients, says Mike Sievert, Presbyterian Health Plan behavioral health medical director.
Sievert, a psychiatrist, spoke to a small group of UNM psychology students on campus Monday about the prospect of insurance companies willing to pay for behavioral health treatment for illnesses such as schizophrenia and depression.
"The health insurance agencies are the highest regulated industry in America at the state and federal level, and we find that behavioral health seems to get pushed aside when the providers look at their policies and what they are willing to pay for," Sievert said.
He added that in the past, behavioral health wasn't an issue that most employers were considering when seeking insurance for their employees.
"Thirty years ago, behavioral health wasn't on anyone's radar screen," Sievert said. "But that is no longer the case; it has drastically changed."
He said employers are more concerned with finding help for employees so that they can have a healthy, productive workforce.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
He added that behavioral health historically has been an out-of-pocket expense or was provided by public health institutions.
Sievert said the main cause for the increased focus on behavioral health is that more people are being affected by an individual's behavior.
"Studies show that people living in a large city, such as Albuquerque, are at a higher risk of having behavior problems," he said.
Sievert suggested that depression and anxiety might be among the list of illnesses associated with big-city living.
But some insurance companies have not adopted behavioral treatment as a major part of their plans because they refuse to fund treatment for problems they don't think will improve, Sievert said, citing autism as an example.
Sievert also answered questions about a new state law that allows psychologists the freedom to prescribe medication. New Mexico is the first state to pass such legislation.
Until the law passed, the only difference between psychology and psychiatry was a degree from medical school.
"I am somewhere in between on the issue of psychologists prescribing medication," Sievert said. "I think there are more negatives than there are positives when you look at the issue."
He mentioned that an argument for the law is that individuals may get more access to help, even when they can't see a psychiatrist.
A negative aspect, Sievert said, is that psychologists won't have enough adequate training before they prescribe medication.
"The law says a psychologist only has to be exposed to 450 hours of training before they have the ability to prescribe medication, and I don't think that is long enough," he said.
Sievert added that psychiatrists usually go through about 1,330 hours of supervised training.
He ended by offering advice to students about the future of psychology.
"Some changes to the profession are good and some will be bad, but don't be passive in the profession and let the changes come to you; go out and make the changes," he said.
