One of the biggest myths about health care is that most of those without insurance are illegal immigrants, or are unemployed. This simply isn’t true.

The National Health Care Coalition has found that nearly eighty per cent of the uninsured in America are citizens, and eighty per cent of those come from working class families. During 2006, over 90 percent of the population or nearly five million people, were without any kind of health insurance for at least part of the year. Now that the unemployment figures are higher, that number is also larger.

America is a world leader. Why is nothing being done to guarantee health care to our working families? If you are working just to get by, then you usually make too much to qualify for Medicaid. Staying at home and drawing welfare so that you can have health insurance doesn’t make any sense to most people, and budget problems at the state level is making that harder as well.

Young adults to the age of twenty-four probably don’t give health care a second thought. They are the population group that is most likely to be without a health plan. There are families that earn over $50,000 per year and also don’t have insurance, even when it is offered by their employer, because they just cannot afford the premiums. If a family earning that kind of money cannot afford health insurance, how can a family who earning half of that be expect to pay for a health plan?

The trouble is that being uninsured means that serious illnesses may go undiagnosed or untreated. Even something like the flu can cause complications and even death if left untreated.

Someone without health insurance is more likely to end up hospitalized for an avoidable condition. The cost of that stay will be around $3000. If that person had been seen a doctor, the condition could have been caught and treated before it became a problem. Hospitals treat patients without insurance and it costs nearly $34million dollars every year. That cost is added back to the paying public through higher hospital bills. This increases insurance rates forces more people to go without.

Affordable health insurance in America needs to be talked about not only during election years. We all need to focus on it and fix it now, realistically and fairly. Health insurance should not be a luxury, or an option for a select few. It should be affordable for all.

Mental health clinics are usually not admitted arbitrarily. The process usually consists of an initial interview with a community worker or a mental health professional. If a client is considered in need of residential or out-patient treatment at a mental health clinic, an extensive history of the mental illness will then be recorded. Such assessments will also include interviews with other doctors and family physicians who have noted the onset and progress of the ailment.

The staff at mental health clinics usually consists of psychiatrists, psychologists, mental health nurses, and support personnel who are specially trained. The scope and activities of mental health clinics in America generally falls under the purview of the CMHC (Community Mental Health Centers). This body issues licenses to clinics and centers for the practice of mental health-related treatment.

Considering that mental health crises do not always announce themselves in advance, a mental health clinic or center usually offers twenty-four-hour emergency services. These include inpatient hospital referral, since many cases are diagnosed in hospitals while the client is under treatment for other health problems.

Mental health problems affect people from all age groups, and American mental health clinics also offer services specifically for the aged as well as children and adolescents. The reasons that commonly lead to a referral for elderly persons range from senile dementia and Alzheimer’s disease to problems related to chronic alcohol abuse. Mental health problems typical to the aged fall under the category of geropsychiatric medicine.

Teenagers and young adults often find themselves in need of mental health services because of substance abuse, inherited mental problems, and Attention Deficit Disorders (ADD).

The services available at mental health clinics necessarily include group therapy, individual and family counseling, and a social awareness cell. The latter would be staffed by personnel who could explain the various issued surrounding metal health in layman’s terms to clients and their families. They are also an integral part of the evaluation process.