Mental health is a major issue for young people of Generation Z, people who were born after 1996, and research has found they report feeling emotionally distressed at more than three times the rate of Baby Boomers.

Deidra Burke, youth and young adult program manager for the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Washington, said stigma around mental health issues is the biggest barrier to getting help, although conversations about it are becoming more prevalent.

"Now after the pandemic, it sort of normalized it," Burke observed. "Like hey, everyone can have a mental health condition. People started to see that youth also have these same issues. They have symptoms. They're having mental health conditions."

While there is less of a stigma now, Burke pointed out there is still much more work to do. She urged people to first speak to a trusted person in their life if they start to suspect mental health concerns.

Dr. Donald Tavakoli, national medical director of behavioral health for UnitedHealthcare, said as Gen Z-ers enter the workforce and become eligible for their own health care plans, it is important they understand the mental health coverage benefits they have. He has found many young people value virtual visits.

"Increasingly, health plans offer telehealth that can be in-network opportunities to support your mental health," Tavakoli noted. "It's important to find a health plan that offers those."

Even as the pandemic subsides, Burke added its effects will not go away, because it was such a traumatic event.

"Trauma lasts a lifetime," Burke emphasized. "A lot of these youths, this is like their fundamental development years. So this will last them their entire lives."

Despite uncertainty about Medicaid funding in Congress, Tennessee is moving ahead to help improve people's health outcomes with a program for community health workers.

Tennessee's Medicaid program, TennCare, is partnering with the Tennessee Community Health Worker Association to offer an accreditation program to promote best practices for training and supporting the workforce.

Nikayla Boyd, executive director of the association, said community health workers link people to care and promote healthy habits. She noted the pilot accreditation program is underway, with a full launch expected by 2027.

"In addition to CHWs having individual certification, we are also accrediting the actual CHW program," Boyd explained. "Accrediting that program, that organization, that employer."

TennCare will fund grants for up to 14 organizations to complete the accreditation process. There are about 600 community health workers in the state, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, but Boyd argued more are needed.

Boyd pointed out they partner with the National Committee for Quality Assurance to design the accreditation programs. Some are centered on specific diseases, while others primarily address the social determinants of health.

"To date, we have six programs in Tennessee that have been accredited," Boyd outlined. "Two at Methodist Le Bonheur Community Outreach, two at Siloam Health, one at Regional One Health and then, another at the Mental Health Cooperative."

Boyd added an organization must meet seven standards in order to be accredited. For those working with community health workers, they include the full scope of training from recruitment to evaluations, support and supervision.


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Republican lawmakers are considering billions of dollars in cuts to Medicaid. But a new report finds those spending cuts might impact health-care coverage for thousands of Maryland military families.

The report by the Georgetown Center for Children and Families finds more than 850,000 people enrolled in Medicaid have military health insurance, known as TRICARE, as their primary coverage. One in 10 children of service members with TRICARE is also enrolled in Medicaid.

Joan Alker, executive director of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, said Medicaid is important for service members with children who require more intensive health care.

"The TRICARE benefit package just isn't enough, so Medicaid is making TRICARE work for those families by covering the high cost of services and some benefits that those children otherwise would not have access to," Alker explained.

Republicans in Congress are trying to reel in what they view as out-of-control spending by $2 trillion in the next budget. But cuts to Medicaid are not universally agreed upon among Republican lawmakers.

Medicaid also serves 40% of children in the U.S. with a benefit that allows them to receive preventive and ameliorative care. That benefit began after a military report in the 1960s found young men were not qualified for military service in Vietnam because of preventive medical issues during their childhoods.

Retired Army Brigadier General George Schwartz said Medicaid cuts could have a negative impact on recruiting numbers as well. If troops lack proper coverage for their families, he thinks they may seek other career paths that can provide that coverage.

"As those young people reach the age where they're eligible for military service, the military is competing with private industry and all sorts of organizations for these young people. From a mission readiness point, this is a matter of national security," Schwartz contended.

Maryland is home to more than 100,000 active-duty service members and more than 35,000 military-connected children in the state.

With Mother's Day coming up, some Pennsylvania lawmakers are backing a set of bills that could help improve maternal health.

The Black Maternal Health Caucus introduced the updated "PA Momnibus 2.0" package in April, focused on tackling disparities in maternal health care by improving access to services.

Black women in the state are nearly twice as likely to die from childbirth complications. Rep. La'Tasha D. Mayes, D-Allegheny County, said 93% of maternal deaths are preventable.

"All the bills are for all moms, and because we know when we fix and address and take on maternal mortality and morbidity for Black moms, we solve it for every mom and birthing person in the Commonwealth," she explained.

The nine-bill package builds upon a 2024 "Momnibus" introduced by Mayes and Reps. Morgan Cephas and Gina Curry, both Republicans. Mayes said the caucus is working towards moving the bills toward votes, and then action in the Senate.

Two of the measures would expand access to blood pressure monitors and ensure they are covered through private insurance and Medicaid. Mayes added another measure would expand the reach of midwives, who provide care throughout pregnancy and childbirth, as well as postpartum.

"The Midwifery Practice Innovation bill that's going to help us advance midwifery as an occupation in this commonwealth, because it's very challenging to become a midwife, as well as be able to practice fully in a way that can serve moms," she continued.

The "Momnibus" also includes supports for nursing mothers, and invests in a Maternal and Newborn Supply Kit program, and maternal-health deserts. Mayes says more than 12% of women have no birthing facility within 30 minutes of their home, and Black women are three times more likely to die during or after birth compared with other women.