Tom Steyer on Families & Children Democratic Presidential Challenger; CEO

$100M/year for mental health, to reduce suicide & depression

STEYER: I've talked to Americans across this country, and one of the things that I found over that time is that mental health is an under-discussed, under-resourced true source of pain for Americans. And it really is a question about anxiety and depression that goes untreated--mental health is healthyou never go to the doctor and they say, "You have a broken leg, come back in four months and I'll set it." But if you go in with a mental health issue, they literally say stuff like that. So part of this, in my mind, is about putting money towards mental health. In my health plan, there's $100 billion a year to try and address specifically mental health. And that's designed really to go after anxiety and depression across this country, as it shows up in terms of alcoholism, drug abuse and suicide. And I have another $75 billion going directly towards the opioid crisis.