Eye On Illinois: Improving preventive physical and mental care may be a matter of economic incentives

What is the clearer path to change: working within the system or completely subverting convention?

The Daily Herald reported on Saturday’s DuPage County Mental Health Summit, focusing on remarks from former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy. Patrick, son of the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, represented Rhode Island in Congress for 16 years. He also co-founded The Kennedy Forum, a Chicago-based nonprofit agency pursuing “systemic transformation for mental health and substance use prevention, treatment and care.”

Kennedy spoke about the need for increased collaboration to improve preventive care. He cited a 75% prison recidivism rate and suggested solving that problem by creating financial incentives for facilities that cut those return statistics. He then applied the same logic to health insurance companies that are quick to cover preventive physical health care treatment but lag when it comes to mental screening and intervention.

“That’s the beauty of capitalism,” he said, either a wise approach to a persistent problem or a stark reminder of how much of our nation’s economy is inextricably intertwined with keeping people healthy and whole.

“Insurance companies have no interest in early intervention that produces long-term benefits,” Kennedy added, and it’s easy to argue that if carriers don’t see these advantages on their own then perhaps we could reach the policy goal through economic levers. And if carrots don’t work, there are always sticks.

In April, I discussed Senate Bill 2697, through which legislators unanimously approved expanding existing law to make insurers cover susceptibility and prevention screening, including genetic testing, for all cancer types for anyone with a family history. No one would pay more than $50.

No health care is free, and we have to pay professional providers. Yet prevention remains a bargain too often overlooked.

ENCOURAGING DEVELOPMENT: The news media landscape has changed dramatically over my 22-plus years of writing about what comes out of Springfield. Regular readers know the work of Capitol News Illinois reporters is vital to both this column and the more important goal of understanding how state government operates, so it’s fitting to share the excitement of CNI’s newest growth initiative: Northwestern University’s Medill School is creating a bureau for students to bolster the Statehouse press corps.

A small team will be based in CNI’s Springfield newsroom during legislative sessions and otherwise work out of Cook County. Student journalists will benefit from experience and exposure, readers will consume more quality content and state officials will have that many more reminders to stay accountable to taxpayers.

NEVER FORGET: In 2021, I dedicated an entire column to highlighting Illinois memorials to the 9/11 terror attacks. You can view that summary at tinyurl.com/IL911sites. Also, the National 9/11 Memorial keeps a list of official sites at registries.911memorial.org.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.