OAKLAND — Free Qigong classes and acupressure massages are just two of the many benefits Medi-Cal members are now eligible for, as California’s Department of Health Care Services attempts to draw in low-income people who may need mental health support but are too ashamed to get it.
In many ethnic communities, mental health issues are still a taboo topic: few people access services for the help they might need.
The crisis in California is especially acute among low-income non-citizens. In 2021, more than 15 percent of this population experienced severe psychological distress, but just eight percent of those needing help sought it out, according to data from the Public Policy Institute of California. By contrast, almost 25 percent of low-income US citizens in psychological distress sought out mental health services.
New acupuncture program
In Alameda County, in the San Francisco East Bay Area, one out of four residents are AAPIs. Dr. Eric Yuan, deputy director at Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services, noted at a recent news briefing at Laney College in Oakland that one out of five AAPIs in the county need mental health support but fewer than one out of 50 actually access it.
Yuan discussed a new acupuncture program that was developed by a team of psychiatrists and traditional Chinese medicine practitioners. The program was piloted last year at community centers in Fremont, California.
“The Eastern model of healing the body creates a natural bridge to behavioral health,” said Yuan. There are over 2,000 acupuncture points linked to 14 meridians in the human body. A blockage in any meridian can cause mental health disturbances, he said.
Qigong
The acupuncture program pilot was combined with Qigong classes at community centers in Fremont. Doctors stationed onsite also made medical consultations.
Yuan said he hopes to scale the program to all 19 cities in Alameda County, and eventually throughout the state.
In May, California Gov. Gavin Newsom cut acupuncture out from state-subsidized health care services, causing a huge uproar in the Chinese American community. The community fought the cuts, and in the final budget released in June, funding for acupuncture services was included.
Mental health taboos
Dr. David Lee, director of the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution — ANNAPISI — program at Laney College here, said: “Hard to reach populations typically don’t seek services because of the stigma surrounding mental health.”
Laney College serves a large number of Asian American and Pacific Islander students. Lee said many students feel there is shame surrounding walking through the door of a mental health counselor’s office. He offers a bi-weekly program attended by about 30-40 students, who sit in a circle and talk about their mental health struggles. “It really de-stigmatizes mental health, and we hope students take this back to other family members,” said Lee.
‘No wrong door’
Sun Hyung Lee, Division Director of Transition Age Youth Services, Child and Young Adult System of Care at Alameda County Behavioral Health Care Services, noted that services are provided to those experiencing moderate to severe behavioral health challenges beginning as early as birth. Partnering with the The California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal program — CailAIM — ACBHCS is able to provide a variety of services, including crisis care, substance abuse disorders, and prevention and treatment for other mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, and psychosis.
“Through CalAIM, we have no wrong door,” said Lee, later explaining to EMS that her agency also contracts with a number of community-based organizations to serve as first-line responders.
988 Crisis hotline
Children over the age of 12 do not need consent from their parents to avail themselves of services, she said. People experiencing a mental health crisis can call 988, the suicide prevention and mental health crisis line.
Mona Shah, Interim Office of Ethnic Services Administrator at ACBHCS, said the agency prioritizes advancing equity and inclusion, aiming to reach underserved populations, including AAPIs, Blacks, Latinos, and the LGBTQ+ population. ACBHS aims to provide culturally and linguistically-appropriate mental health services, she said.
Medi-Cal Eligibility
On January 1 this year, California became the first state in the nation to offer Medi-Cal services to all its low-income residents, including undocumented residents. Individuals with less than $20,783 in annual income are eligible for Medi-Cal. A family of four with income under $43,056 is also eligible for Medi-Cal.
Beginning this year, assets are no longer counted in determining eligibility for Medi-Cal, said Adriene Clark, Client advocate at the Alameda County Department of Social Services. Asset elimination allows people who qualify for Medi-Cal based on their income to own multiple homes, multiple vehicles, a retirement portfolio, jewelry, and other assets. The elimination program has been rolled out in two tiers since 2021, after Newsom signed AB133.
A number of students attended the July 17 briefing at Laney College and received free acupressure massages, and onsite health consultations.
