SUMMARY - Private vs Public Mental Health
A professional with good benefits sees her psychologist weekly, the sessions covered by her employer's insurance. A minimum wage worker with the same condition cannot afford $200 per session and joins a six-month waitlist for public services. Their needs are identical; their access is not. A family pays $3,000 for a private ADHD assessment for their child, getting results in three weeks. A family without those resources waits eighteen months for the same assessment through the public system.