The Affordable Care Act and Employment Services for People with Mental Illness (In Focus Brief)

Mental illness, like any health problem, can disrupt the ability to work. Many people with mental illness can only work part time, intermittently, or for low wages. For people with access to mental health care, disruptions to the ability to work are often short term, allowing them to return to their jobs and former productivity levels quickly. But people who cannot afford treatment, whose treatment is not quickly or fully effective, or whose illness often recurs may lose their jobs, leading to long-term disability and unemployment.