BIPOLAR ILLNESS: THE LONGER IT'S HIDDEN THE LONGER IT HURTS!
BIPOLAR ILLNESS IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE ASHAMED OF. IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE HIDDEN, BUT RATHER CONFRONTED. THE LONGER IT'S HIDDEN, THE LONGER IT HURTS!!! LEARN MORE:VISIT ME @
http://www.michellewrites.net/
ALSO LOOK UP MY NEW BOOK:
"Over the Rainbow:
A Story of Life, Love andFamily with BipolarDisorder"
NOW AVAILABE @
Barnes & Noble Stores
http://www.bn.com/ (Barnes & Noble online)
http://www.amazon.com/
http://www.mountainvalleypublishing.com/
MENTAL HEALTH INSURANCE
The cost of my psychiatrist/psycho-pharmacologist is $275 just to get new prescriptions of the same medications I am on. This may include at times a 20 minute talk session or a 30 minute talk session up to 45 minutes, after which the price goes higher. If you are a new patient seeking help, the consultation fee is triple that for 90 minutes. A doctor I had consulted with over ten years ago whose fee of $500 for the first 45 minutes and $300 for each 20 minute session thereafter outraged me, so much so that I also alluded to it in my book when discussing this issue. The cost of a good child psychologist today is about $220 for one 45 minute weekly session. To stay in a decent in-patient hospital if ever needed, one where other sick patients aren’t urinating in the public showers, the cost can easily run up to $1500 a day. The problem is that many health insurance companies do not cover mental disabilities or if they do they have their own “in-network” providers. While I am sure many of the in-network providers are just as credible and qualified, I have not yet been fortunate enough to find one that meets my needs. Fortunately, due to family support, I am in a “bracket” which allows me to get by with what I have to pay out for my psychiatric needs. But, here is my question: what about those people who are battling my same illness on a day to day basis and are not in the “bracket” I am fortunate enough to be in??? I happen to know a good handful of these people and it is far from a good situation for them. Their symptoms get increasingly worse simply because they cannot afford the cost of the doctor visits in order to get refills of their medications. Once they finally do get to a doctor, the cost of these medications is a separate issue entirely as we all know the story with the pharmaceutical companies. Some of my medications cost up to $1100 a month and my drug plan wants me to pay $30 a month after meeting a $250 deductible each year. This does not include the “donut hole” catch that you fall into after you have cost the company a certain $ amount allotment for the year, after which you must pay out of pocket for each medication. Do I sound like I want to run off a copy of this post, in hand, frantically darting to Washington to pay Obama a visit? Do I sound like I want to be living in Canada? I know these issues are being worked on, but in the meantime, there are too may people who are ill, and continue to suffer, some with unnecessary fatal outcomes that could have been avoided had they been able to afford the proper treatment. I have a special regard and abundance of empathy for those of you who share in my diagnosis of TRD. To have refractory illnesses in this country is almost sinful for the average middle class income population, not to mention lower class bracket and poverty stricken individuals. I am not imposing that this is not the case with all medical health insurance, but is it fair that I got better because I could afford to? Either way, it is unacceptable.
A Story of Life, Love andFamily with BipolarDisorder"
NOW AVAILABE @
Barnes & Noble Stores
http://www.bn.com/ (Barnes & Noble online)
http://www.amazon.com/
http://www.mountainvalleypublishing.com/
MENTAL HEALTH INSURANCE
A REAL DILEMMA
I happen to have, who I feel, is a very good doctor who treats my bipolar illness. His practice is on the upper west side in Manhattan. He is a psychiatrist who specializes in pharmacological drugs for the treatment of mental illnesses, mostly bipolar disorder. It is my further assumption that many of his patients have been diagnosed with “treatment-resistant” depression (TRD), like me, at one time or another. Although he is not much of a talker, his pharmacological background and expertise has saved me from many situations which could have ended in dreadful outcomes. For talking, there is a whole separate doctor. She is called my psychotherapist and for someone with my condition, that is also imperative. So, what more could I ask for? In addressing my mental health, for the safety and treatment of my “mental” well being and for meeting my specific needs, the importance of these doctors is non-negotiable! The issue at hand ...that happens to be “cost” and “worth.” It is no secret that about 60 – 70 percent of the time I am being helped by my psychiatrist/psycho-pharmacologist and for someone with my diagnosis, those are very satisfactory numbers, hence the phrase, “it is well worth it” or better yet, “money well spent!” But a genuine question gets posed now. At what point and at how much money do we define the words “worth” and “well spent???” It would be equally easy to just stop typing right here and now and end this post with that all too common statement, “everything’s relative.” I’m sure the obvious is however suspected - this is NOT going in that direction, rather quite the opposite. In this case, everything is NOT relative!
The cost of my psychiatrist/psycho-pharmacologist is $275 just to get new prescriptions of the same medications I am on. This may include at times a 20 minute talk session or a 30 minute talk session up to 45 minutes, after which the price goes higher. If you are a new patient seeking help, the consultation fee is triple that for 90 minutes. A doctor I had consulted with over ten years ago whose fee of $500 for the first 45 minutes and $300 for each 20 minute session thereafter outraged me, so much so that I also alluded to it in my book when discussing this issue. The cost of a good child psychologist today is about $220 for one 45 minute weekly session. To stay in a decent in-patient hospital if ever needed, one where other sick patients aren’t urinating in the public showers, the cost can easily run up to $1500 a day. The problem is that many health insurance companies do not cover mental disabilities or if they do they have their own “in-network” providers. While I am sure many of the in-network providers are just as credible and qualified, I have not yet been fortunate enough to find one that meets my needs. Fortunately, due to family support, I am in a “bracket” which allows me to get by with what I have to pay out for my psychiatric needs. But, here is my question: what about those people who are battling my same illness on a day to day basis and are not in the “bracket” I am fortunate enough to be in??? I happen to know a good handful of these people and it is far from a good situation for them. Their symptoms get increasingly worse simply because they cannot afford the cost of the doctor visits in order to get refills of their medications. Once they finally do get to a doctor, the cost of these medications is a separate issue entirely as we all know the story with the pharmaceutical companies. Some of my medications cost up to $1100 a month and my drug plan wants me to pay $30 a month after meeting a $250 deductible each year. This does not include the “donut hole” catch that you fall into after you have cost the company a certain $ amount allotment for the year, after which you must pay out of pocket for each medication. Do I sound like I want to run off a copy of this post, in hand, frantically darting to Washington to pay Obama a visit? Do I sound like I want to be living in Canada? I know these issues are being worked on, but in the meantime, there are too may people who are ill, and continue to suffer, some with unnecessary fatal outcomes that could have been avoided had they been able to afford the proper treatment. I have a special regard and abundance of empathy for those of you who share in my diagnosis of TRD. To have refractory illnesses in this country is almost sinful for the average middle class income population, not to mention lower class bracket and poverty stricken individuals. I am not imposing that this is not the case with all medical health insurance, but is it fair that I got better because I could afford to? Either way, it is unacceptable.
