psychiatric evaluations

A supporter of pop star Britney Spears participating in a #FreeBritney rally on July 14 in Washington, D.C. When anyone poses a high risk of harm to themselves or others, psychiatrists are obligated to hospitalize them, even against their will. For many patients, paying for that involuntary care leads to long-term financial strain. Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images hide caption

The Joliet Treatment Center, southwest of Chicago, is one of four facilities now providing mental health care to some of Illinois' sickest inmates. It's a start, say mental health advocates, but many more inmates in Illinois and across the U.S. still await treatment. Christine Herman/Illinois Public Media hide caption

A provision in the bill proposed by the GOP Senate would permit Medicaid to pay for longer stints of inpatient psychiatric care. But other parts of the bill would strip $772 billion from Medicaid — the single-largest funder of care for people who have schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or another serious mental illness. B. Boissonnet/Getty Images hide caption

Too often, pediatricians say, the teen depression that went undiagnosed in the community shows up in the ER as a suicide attempt. Studio 642/Blend Images/Getty Images hide caption

Mentally ill prisoners too impaired to stand trial are supposed to be transferred to state mental hospitals for treatment within two or three months. But more than 300 in California are languishing in county jails because hospitals don't have the beds. Christian Schmidt/Corbis hide caption