Did Pat McCrory have a mental lapse?
Both Mark Binker and Laura Leslie think that the Republican gubernatorial candidate blew a question on mental health reform at last night's debate. (Dome agrees.)
Moderator Kelly McCullen asked how the candidates would structure the state's mental health system.
McCrory, who went first, noted the recent bill to require insurance companies to cover mental illness, saying he supported it but has concerns about any further mandates. Then he spoke generally about reform, saying it put decision-making at the local level and not a "centralized bureaucracy."
"I think there have been some good trends in that area during the past two or three years, including in Mecklenburg County, where some of the decision-making on what type of care is needed on individual circumstances is done at the local level by health-care providers closest to the patient," he said.
The other candidates smacked down talk of success elsewhere in the state, but it's also worth noting that the strategy has not been the concern on mental health reform as much as the implementation.
After the jump, McCrory's full response.
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MCCULLEN: Mr. McCrory, the Department of Health and Human Services secretary wants to completely overhaul North Carolina's mental health system. How should the state's mental health system and strategies be structured?
MCCRORY: I think this is one of the most difficult issues, especially with the ongoing debate. We just added mental health as a requirement to all insurance programs in North Carolina, by the way, which is a major ... another mandate that we have. it was needed, but there is a point in time right now where we need to stop any future mandates on private insurance companies because if we keep adding mandates, we're going to just drive people to Medicaid and other types of services in the public sector, which is just then transferred to the taxpayer. And mental health is one of those areas, where I think the best way to do it is the trend that's been occuring in the last several years where we're transferring some of that responsibility and decision-making down to the local level, where it's closest to the customer. I think there have been some good trends in that area during the past two or three years, including in Mecklenburg County, where some of the decision-making on what type of care is needed on individual circumstances is done at the local level by health-care providers closest to the patient as opposed to a centralized bureaucracy right here in Raleigh. So I recommend strongly dispersing the decision-making and making it closest to the customer as possible.
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