OHIO — Heather Saunders has been focusing on policies surrounding mental health and substance use disorder for the last four years.
Saunders and Nirmita Panchal have published their research about Tracking Key Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Actions Under the Trump Administration.
One of their biggest findings includes how many policy moves were responding to an increase in mental health and substance use nationwide.
What You Need To Know
Both the Trump administration and the Biden administration built up mental health policy with federal funds and programs meant to expand and improve access to care
At the beginning of his second term, President Trump established the Make America Healthy Again Commission. Since then, he has reduced federal spending by removing funds from services
For example, President Trump ended specialized LGBTQ youth services for the 988 hotline – instead prioritizing a universal approach to crisis care
Critics believe his cuts to Medicaid expansion could lead to hundreds of thousands of Ohioans losing their access to healthcare
“Previous administrations, the Trump administration, the Biden administration built up mental health policy,” Saunders said. “They allocated a lot of new federal funds and programs that were meant to expand and improve access to care and also the availability and quality of services.”
Saunders is the senior research manager for KFF, a nonpartisan organization.
She pointed to the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline originally passed during President Donald Trump’s first term.
It was enacted during the Biden administration and became available in 2022.
“So, we saw a lot of growth in crisis services,” Saunders said. “For example, 988 mobile crisis stabilization services at a state level, and there were also a number of programs to address opioid use disorder.”
At the beginning of his second term, President Trump established the Make America Healthy Again Commission.
Since then, Saunders said he has reduced federal spending by removing funds from services.
“There have been a number of cuts to federal mental health agencies programs and grants,” Saunders said.
For example, President Trump ended specialized LGBTQ youth services for the 988 hotline – instead prioritizing a universal approach to crisis care.
Critics believe his cuts to Medicaid expansion could lead to hundreds of thousands of Ohioans losing their access to healthcare.
Becky Carroll works as director of policy research and analysis at the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, which is another nonpartisan organization that identifies Ohio’s biggest health challenges.
One of those challenges is the expiration of the affordable care tax credits.
“There were several provisions in HR1 or also known as the Big Beautiful Bill Act that will, could potentially be problematic for some people in that group,” Carroll said. “Without those tax credits, people are going to be paying about double their health insurance, which is going to cause more people to decide to go uninsured.”
Carroll said right now she hasn’t seen an impact in the landscape of mental health yet.
Over the next 10 years, based on the current policy changes, Carroll said it is estimated a loss of $30 billion, which is going to affect the health care system overall in the state and the country.
Data shows nearly 5 million Ohioans live with either a mental illness or substance use disorder – the state’s wellness workforce is recruiting more professionals to better treat them.
Gov. Mike DeWine has often listed mental healthcare as one of his top priorities, allocating millions of dollars during his two terms.
“Some of these funds that we are using do come in from the Trump administration,” DeWine said. “So, you know, we continue to do what we can do to build out a mental health system here in the state of Ohio.”