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Good & Bad Facts

The good and the bad facts.

GOOD: Many families have very good mental health insurance coverage. BAD:Their child has or in the process of reaching the insurance LIFETIME MAX. for mental health coverage. Or even worse the child has an attached rider for pre-existing condition of mental illness (usually the rider is for 24 months, which means, to get coverage, your child CAN NOT HAVE ANY TREATMENTS FOR MENTAL HEALTH CARE during 24 consectivel months. While other insurance policies attached rider, discloses never to cover a per-existing condition).
GOOD:The child does very well using the medications prescribed for his/her treatment. BAD:Insurance does not cover most of the medication and can cost a family as much as $400.00 a month. Even worse is when the Doctor changes the types of medication(s), leaving you with filled bottles useless medications. The disposing of the old medications in the toilet(flushing money away). And praying it does not happening again. (Ok, we can all be wishful thinkers.)
GOOD:The child is still in treatment and is responding very well. BAD:All the services that insurance has not covered put families in large debt. (For some families whose child is in the hospital more then once the alloted calendar year insurance allow, add to that therapy sessions, group therapy, mediccations, etc. In a few years the total of mental health care after insurance has paid their part can have total reaching close to $40,000 out-of-pocket. Some familys' debt nearly totals $180,000.00. Leaving their American dream of ever owning a house impossible, even worse getting loans and charging up credit cards to help pay for needed treatments, since the child is still receiving services. For example: My son stayed 31 days in "Charter Hospital" in 1993 and the bill totaled over $21,000. before insurance coverage. As a single mom I was still responsible for over $1,700. for that stay, and $10 co-pay for the 5 medications he was placed on(total $50 out-of-pocket per month) not to mention that he went back in there three months later another for 28 days.
GOOD: Social Security has Supplemental Social Security Income for mentally ill children. And as of January 1, 2001 , SSI and SSDI benefits had a cost-of-living increase of 3.5%, increasing max.monthly payments from $512 to $530 monthly. BAD: Only if your family's household income falls within their boundaries. They do not care about the debt those mental health bills are placing on your family nor about the collection agencies harassing you for the money you will never have. (Unless you hit the jackpot of the State Lottery. LOL)

GOOD:

BAD:

About this article & author: Written by Judi Coats, to bring awareness to readers on the struggles and hardships of those families' incurring the difficutly from the expenses of mental health care and to better understand what these famlies must face.