Replies to post #1571 on The Free Zone Board

[Indy708]

Patlee-Re: Libs vs. conservatives on mental health.

"Each of these above consequences of our failing to make treatment for all of the seriously mentally ill a priority is a tragedy in and of itself. But collectively these consequences involve a magnitude of harm & misery which should evoke loud and persistent demands by civil libertarians and the media that those problems be eliminated. Instead, many turn their heads and pretend that these problems don't exist."

How you gonna lock them all up without raising taxes? Under the old laws my neighbor could have me locked down for a 72 Phsych evaluation just based on his observations. The reason we don't find a resolution somewhere between "Cukoos Nest" and "Discharge To The Streets", is because it would just create more govt. You can't really argue it both ways. Which is it constitutional spending or more taxes to lock down everyone ACCUSED of being nuts?

[smart_sassy]

Mental Health Insurance Benefits


Something that has not been mentioned relative to the treatment of mental illness is the way in which most health insurance companies pay for it. For those lucky enough to have insurance, "mental" condition benefits are much lower than "medical" condition benefits.

While a good number of us have unlimited days and a cap of about $1 million for medical conditions, most mental health benefits only cover about 30 days inpatient care per year and 30-50 outpatient visits per year. (Why do you think that the "magic" number for days in rehab is 28? It is because those who developed the treatment wanted insurances to pay.) I have seen caps on mental health to be as low as $25,000 - having worked in patient billing for a hospital with 250 psych beds, let me tell you - that is nothing.

So, lets look at the picture. We have those with no insurance out on the streets and no place to go. We have those with insurance who cannot get the treatment that they need because of insurance restrictions. If they continue treatment - they will end up on the streets from their bankruptcy. You've got a crisis and someone needs to look at it.

Anyone want to talk about some type of National Health Plan?