Mental Health and Addiction Reform

Every Kentuckian should be able to get care when they need it—whether it’s a broken bone, mental health crisis, or a battle with addiction. But, especially when it comes to our mental health, too many of us are going without help because providers aren’t available and insurance won’t cover what it should. We don’t have to accept that. Other states, even red states like Texas, have shown us that bold, effective interventions in mental health and addiction are possible. We can build a mental health and addiction care system that saves lives, keeps families together, and brings real care to our communities.

 As a State Representative I will fight for:

• Fair pay for mental health providers—closing the 30% reimbursement pay gap and enforcing insurance parity so Kentuckians can actually use the coverage they have.

   

• No wrong door: Kentuckians of any age should be able to get help before crisis points–in schools, primary care offices, or via a 24/7 crisis center–rather than cycling through ERs or the justice system.

   

• School-based mental health services in every district, starting with counselors and telehealth in high-need schools.

• Ban conversion therapy and put it in the dustbin of history.

   

• Syringe exchanges, fentanyl test strips, and naloxone to stop overdose deaths before they happen.

   

• Medicaid coverage that pays mental health and addiction providers fairly and includes crisis, peer, and recovery support services.

   

• A Kentucky Mental Health Fairness Act to crack down on ghost networks, clawbacks, and insurance discrimination against mental health care.

   

• Paid training, scholarships, and student debt relief to grow Kentucky’s behavioral health workforce, especially in rural and underserved areas.

   

• Full funding for evidence-based youth programs like Multisystemic Therapy and school-based teams that keep kids out of jail and in care.

   

• Community-based alternatives to jail for people with mental illness or substance use disorders, including mental health courts and crisis drop-off centers.