Events › Know Your Rights: Access to Mental Health Services

Mental illness is more prevalent than most people realize. One in five adults in the U.S. lives with a mental illness; in Santa Clara County, that's about 340,000 adults -- or enough people to fill Levi's Stadium five times. Mental health parity requires that commercial insurance plans provide the same level of coverage for mental health services as they do for physical health services, but many people don't know their rights to care and coverage.

Recognizing there is a great need for mental health services -- and hearing the difficulty many are facing in accessing services -- the Health System, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Santa Clara and Bay Area Legal Aid (Bay Legal) developed a presentation to educate our community about their right to access medically necessary mental health care. The 30-minute presentation explains how common mental health conditions are and how to recognize signs and symptoms. It provides information on rights to mental health care, steps and resources to access care, and what to do if you encounter problems. Handouts with tips and resources will be provided.