Paul Bass Photo
State Sen. Jorge Cabrera at WNHH FMM.
Even in 12 weeks, Connecticut can find a way to enable more people get mental-health help.
So proclaimed State Sen. Jorge Cabrera, who vowed to work with his colleagues to pass legislation to that effect during the “short session” that begins at the Capitol on Feb. 9.
Cabrera, who is in his first term representing Hamden, Bethany, Woodbridge, Beacon Falls, Derby and Ansonia in the Senate, made that vow during an appearance Tuesday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline Hamden” program.
“I’ve spoken to so many teachers. The levels of depression are sky high. We’e got to do a better job,” Cabrera said.
At the same time, “we have an opportunity” to expand access because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which both increased the demand for treatment for depression and exposed the inequalities in the system.
Too many people can’t find a therapist available to treatment, or a therapist who will accept insurance (because of the level of reimbursements), he observed.
For this short session (in even-number years, the legislature convenes for just 12 weeks, giving members more time to campaign for reelection), Cabrera is working with colleagues on short-term fixes. For instance: Perhaps the state licensing board can temporarily slash the number of hours social-work trainees need to have on the job before visits with them can be reimbursed, in order to expand the available number of therapists.
Long term, Cabrera supports development of a government-run “public option” for health insurance. Chances are that such a proposal wouldn’t pass in this short session, especially since the governor doesn’t support it.
But he plans to continue pressing the proposal along with like-minded legislators, with hope for eventually building enough support to pass it, Cabrera said. “The way we do health care in this country is not working.”
Click on the video to watch the full interview with State Sen. Jorge Cabrera on WNHH FM’s “Dateline Hamden” about mental health, income inequality, and other issues he plans to tackle in this year’s legislative session. Click here to read a previous interview with New Haven state Sen. Martin Looney on a similar subject.
Also on “Dateline” Tuesday, Professor David Cameron — a Yale political scientist and former director of the MacMillan Center’s Program for European Union Studies — laid out the “pathway to a peaceful solution” of the Ukraine crisis, while running down the roots as well as the broader implications of the standoff. It all begins with Minsk and the “Normandy 4.” Click on the video to watch the full interview.