The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed myriad healthcare challenges and inadequacies. Most notably, as mental health needs proliferate, it has become nearly impossible to find accessible and affordable mental health services.

According to the World Health Organization, the pandemic has caused a “massive 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression” worldwide. In the first nine months of COVID-19, the US saw twice that number, with a 50% increase in anxiety and a 44% increase in depression. Among adults aged 18 to her 29, this percentage increased further with 65% he and 61% he.

Social isolation, closure and assignment, fear of death and illness, heightened stress from unemployment and different work environments, and grief from the loss of loved ones are just some of the factors that have contributed to the inevitable rise in mental health conditions. But the most terrifying and inexcusable problem facing afflicted people is very simple. Our healthcare system does not allow easy access to affordable mental health services.

The biggest obstacle facing accessible mental health services in our country is big insurance, which often deliberately limits coverage and creates narrow networks to increase profits. This is nothing new. Because of the ubiquitous idea that American patients can’t afford proper care because of insurance company greed, “Last Week Tonight” host John Oliver said in a recent soliloquy that their He pointed out pure gluttony.

According to Bloomberg, some insurers are creating ghost markets. This is a provider insurance directory filled with clinicians who are not accepting new patients or participating in that insurance company’s insurance network. Some of the information listed in these directories is sent to deceased clinicians or ends up in a completely wrong phone number. It is a tactic that is being used and results in many Americans being unable to access the help they desperately need.

Even when patients are able to contact providers in the network, coverage is often denied retroactively. Oliver found that Anthem-engaged reviewers had an average rejection rate of 92% for interview requests. Unfortunately, he was not alone.

This lack of coverage not only keeps American patients out of care, it exacerbates the shortage of providers, clinics and hospitals willing to help. For every 10 active clinicians, 13 will retire.

We worry about how much patients are being forced to pay, how much mental health providers are being compensated for, and how much insurance companies are paying. , earns $1 trillion a year in premiums alone. And in the first quarter of this year, the top five health insurance giants made him $262.8 billion. let it sink

Insurance companies must be held accountable. As America’s mental health crisis worsens, we can no longer stand by as five insurers use restrictive mental health policies to earn him over $260 billion in three months.

Jack Calabritinos was the former director of intergovernmental and foreign affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services and former vice chairman of the Food and Drug Administration. This column was provided by InsideSources.com.