Remember the federal legislation passed in late 2008 that requires insurance companies to bring their mental health coverage in parity with their health coverage? Well, technically that law took effect 29 days ago, but the Obama administration got around today to publishing the rules that put the law into effect.
The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury today jointly issued new rules providing parity for consumers enrolled in group health plans who need treatment for mental health or substance use disorders. The rules are a part of the governmental process that implements the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA).
First, to be clear, what the new federal law does not cover:
- Employers with less than 50 employees (so that’s virtually all small businesses right there)
- Employers who do not currently offer any mental health or substance abuse benefits
- Individual insurance plans (the law only applies to group insurance plans offered by an employer)
The law carved out small businesses for fear of the financial impact the requirement would have on them. This despite the fact that reports show that mental health parity is generally inexpensive to implement.
So what’s the effect of the new law?
The new law requires that any group health plan that includes mental health and substance use disorder benefits along with standard medical and surgical coverage must treat them equally in terms of out-of-pocket costs, benefit limits and practices such as prior authorization and utilization review. These practices must be based on the same level of scientific evidence used by the insurer for medical and surgical benefits. For example, a plan may not apply separate deductibles for treatment related to mental health or substance use disorders and medical or surgical benefits — they must be calculated as one limit.
MHPAEA applies to employers with 50 or more workers whose group health plan chooses to offer mental health or substance use disorder benefits. The new rules are effective for plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010.
“The rules we are issuing today will, for the first time, help assure that those diagnosed with these debilitating and sometimes life-threatening disorders will not suffer needless or arbitrary limits on their care,” said Secretary Sebelius in the agencies’ joint news release. “I applaud the long-standing and bipartisan effort that made these important new protections possible.”
This is not yet the end of the rule-making process:
The interim final rules released today were developed based on the departments’ review of more than 400 public comments on how the parity rule should be written. Comments on the interim final rules are still being solicited. Sections where further comments are being specifically sought include so-called “non quantitative” treatment limits such as those that pertain to the scope and duration of covered benefits, how covered drugs are determined (formularies), and the coverage of step-therapies. Comments are also being specifically requested on the regulation’s section on “scope of benefits” or continuum of care.
Comments on the interim final regulation are due 90 days after the publication date. Comments may be emailed to the federal rulemaking portal at: http://www.regulations.gov/.
If you have any thoughts on the specific sections open for comments, please take a few minutes to head on over to regulations.gov and submit your thoughts. It’s a great relief to see the rules that put the law into effect have been issued, but the law still doesn’t cover millions of Americans who get their insurance individually, or the hundreds of thousands of small businesses. We still have a ways to go.
Read the full news release: Obama Administration Issues Rules Requiring Parity in Treatment of Mental, Substance Use Disorders
35 comments
Where does this ruling stand in regard to Medicare coverage and Medicare Advantage plans? I have the latter.
Sharon,
Not sure about Medicare Advantage but with original Medicare the co-insurance or co-pay (whatever they call it) is being reduced by a percentage each year so that it’s more affordable. Prior to 2010 the co-pay was 50% each visit. In 2010 it will be 40%, and I believe it is reduced by 10% each consecutive year but I don’t remember exactly when the reduction ends. Might be at 20% but I’m not sure.
thank you for posting this. i will tweet it.
The original Medicare plan coverage is changing and by 2014 reimbursement for outpatient mental health will be 80% instead of the current 50%.
Incremental changes will be made each year, starting this year. The 2010 reimbursement rate is 55%.
About the article and the rules, it is most disturbing to see that it is being pointed out that the law does not cover:
“Employers who do not currently offer any mental health or substance abuse benefits”
It is disturbing to me because it seems unnecessary to state, unless it is to show how to avoid the new law.
Not offer mental health/substance abuse coverage?!
Outrageous!
There ought to be a law…
I am for parity, but won’t that increase costs to our insurance policies?
It is a tough call when any government forces the hand of business owner to provide service to those who would increase costs. As we know, it costs to do business, stay in business. Business is a profit enterprise. If you had an ice cream store and the government forced you to sell ice cream sundaes to the homeless at a much discounted price or give them out for free how long would you stay in business? We could label those insurance companies as “diabolical” and therefore take away their right to charge whatever they want. If we did that, then why not make ice cream store owners also “diabolical”?
We must be careful on what we ask the government to do for us.
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
http://www.DrSam.tv
Samuel Lopez De Victoria,
By that logic one could argue that it’s OK for an insurer to opt out of covering cancer and cancer related issues — or to cover cancer related screenings and treatments at a higher rate. Perhaps you’d see the issue differently if your prostrate exams were not covered at the same rate as the rest of your medical concerns. Might you then be tempted to not get screened as often, or perhaps not at all. Then when it turns out you have a problem the problem will most likely be much further along, needing a greater intervention. That’s not a problem for your insurer, in this example, because they also pay a much lower rate for the cancer treatments. Or perhaps they’ve just decided to opt out of covering cancer treatments all together.
How incredibly arrogant and short sighted of you to say that treating mental health concerns is on par with giving ice cream to the homeless at a discounted price or free. Are you implying mental health (a health concern) is equal to homelessness (a social concern). The Americans with Disabilities Act insures that all Americans have equal access for a reason. There is NO excuse for excluding people due to the color of their skin, their ability (or disability), their wellness or illness.
Your biography says you are a psychotherapist. Do your clients know that you consider people with mental health concerns not worthy of fair and equitable treatment due to their illness or condition? Your biography also says you are a very popular and comedic professor. Perhaps your image is more important than the people you serve?
You say, “We must be careful on what we ask the government to do for us.” I say, “We need the government to protect us from discrimination and injustice.”
Not a good analogy, Dr. Sam. You’re drawing a conclusion by comparing wants and needs, and I’ve been in therapy long enough to know that those are two very different things. I’ve also been homeless, and while an ice cream sundae might have been a tasty treat (a “want”) my emotional stability and capacity to make good decisions during that crisis required regular contact with my therapist (a “need”). How can you say that you are “for parity” when your analogy suggests that mental health treatment is no more necessary than an ice cream sundae, and those who can’t afford the apparent luxury of treatment should be denied access because the insurance company’s profit is more important than people’s health and well-being?
Bonnie,
Whoa! I feel I just got trashed and pounced on with a massive hammer!
Let me kindly and gently share with you that an insurance company is a business. It is not a charity. If you feel that the government can despotically impose on a private enterprise how much money they can make then perhaps you would feel better getting healthcare in a Socialist country where even cancer patients have to wait longer than in this country to get treated.
People fail to understand that an insurance company is a business that tries to make money on risk. If the risk is too high, you don’t insure because you lose your shirt. I sense that you would like to order a “for profit” and private business how much money they can make. Taking that to our level, would you like to be told by the government that you make too much money and therefore you should give your money away to others who don’t work as hard as you have and have not paid the steep price of going for many years to school as you have?
I’m sorry that you have to go into trashing my credentials and accomplishments that speak for themselves. You don’t know how much I care about my patients and how quite effective I am in treating many issues that typically baffle many psychotherapists and psychologists. You do not know how many hours of counseling I donate pro-bono to truly needy and deserving folks. You don’t know that I spent a significant amount of time working with a long-term residential program
helping dual-diagnosed homeless individuals. I understand homelessness, the truth and the political lies about it.
As for your argument of turning down color of skin, disability, wellness, or illness… If you were to have a home-nursing business that you killed yourself to build up and people ask you to GIVE to them service at a very low price or for nothing, could you survive staying in business and feed your family? I would like to save the world but the bottom line is that I love my family first and so would you. You and I must take care of OUR family first and pay our bills first. Does that mean that I must accept treating everyone? Does that mean I must go into bankruptcy and stop feeding my family because I was “charitable” and gave my services away free to the needy? Money does not grow on trees. The government takes your money and then pays their ilk first. What is left over goes to services. Those are typically of poor quality and not administered well. If you happen to be at the beginning of the line you might get something. Too bad if you are at the end of the line.
Please be kinder to others. It pays and it comes back many times over. 🙂
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
http://www.DrSam.tv
First, to avoid confusion, “Bonnie” and I are not the same person. Having clarified that, I too find some of your statements arrogant, Dr. Sam. People certainly do understand that insurance companies are businesses that try to make money on risk, which is exactly why this system needs reform. If I am healthy, they will gladly take my money and gamble on the probability that I will remain healthy, all the while retaining the right to pull the rug out from under me if the risk doesn’t pay off and I become seriously ill. That may be a perfectly acceptable business practice, but it can and sometimes does have lethal consequences for those unfortunate enough to become seriously ill or injured. I find it baffling that so many people continue to defend this business practice even as their insurance premiums become unaffordable and they are always at risk of losing their coverage and perhaps their lives when some number cruncher calculates their “worth” and denies treatment.
I also find your statement concerning “giving your money away to others who don’t work as hard as you have” to be pompous and insulting to those in our society who, for various reasons, may not have had the opportunity to receive an advanced degree but who work just as hard or harder for very little money. Should we deny them health care because they obviously don’t deserve it since they apparently don’t work hard enough to pay for it?
I’m not about to jump into that fray, but, I will submit the following. From what I’ve been able to ascertain, Mr. Obama, and his anti gun henchmen, can’t wait until they can force medical entities to input all of our records into a central database in order that they can determine who needs mental care, or even meds for things like depression, so they can classify those people as “unfit” or “dangerous” to own a gun. Then, they simply go after all those who own guns, in order to rid the country of weapons. Sounds like Hitler to me.
It doesn’t seem right to me to own a business that makes a profit on someones misfortune. If insurance could be an non-profit organization, then it should be. It should make enough money to pay it’s employees and cover expenses.
I often feel bad because I can be such a drain on a company’s insurance program. I have bipolar disorder and diabetes. I take expensive medication, Abilify and Lamictal. Without the medication, I’ve given a presentation in the middle of someone elses’ conference and wrecked the company car. I want the dignity of being able to work to pay my expenses, but maybe cheaper treatment would work for me. I suppose doctors have to give everyone the best treatments available or risk getting sued; however, if Americans cannot afford the “Mercedes”, sell Fords.
Bipolar people should not be able to buy a gun. It seems in politics there are only opinions of extremes and no comprimise. The American people deserve real solutions.
Bonnie,
It is amazing to me that after I have gently encouraged you to be kind you still angrily insist on blasting me with both barrels when you truly do not know me well and apparently do not understand the arguments well.
It seems you equate refusing service with the same thing as “racial discrimination.” It also seems that you believe that all persons are entitled to have any kind of medical treatment regardless of how much it may cost. Someone has to pay for this service. It is not free. Either you pay with higher premiums or you have an oppressive Socialist approach of forcing everyone who works to pay for those who don’t have it. That means you have less money for your gas to go to work, less money to go out with your spouse for breakfast, less money to be able to take a vacation, or buy groceries, etc.
No one ever said that low income folks don’t work hard. The difference in your worldview and mine is that you believe that all needy folks are doomed to poverty and have no hope or opportunities. I say, in America, we all, pretty much have the same opportunities. If you choose to work at McDonalds for 20 years in the back cooking that is great but that is your choice. You could have become a manager. You could have studied harder and spent more money (or taken out loans) and sacrificed longer going without necessities. It is not fair. I consider it almost theft to take from those who worked hard to provide for their families and give it to those who chose not to take opportunities, work, and sacrifice to improve themselves.
Back to my business analogy…
You imply that if I do not treat, give services, provide free product to those who cannot afford my products and services then I am a racist or discriminating in that line of thinking. I say if that is your belief then it is somewhat sad. I would call that abusive, guilt-tripping, implying are all entitled simply by birth to get anything free. With kindness I say this, “It is warped narcissistic thinking.” (See my articles on narcissism in this blog).
Again, Bonnie, let me encourage you to change your approach that seems to be based on anger. It get a person nowhere and/or accomplishes little. It is based on “Force” which creates resistance and rejection in others instead of “Power” which transcends petty things and gets things accomplished in Win-Win fashion.
I encourage you to try kindness. In the end, it always wins!
Bless you, Bonnie!
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
http://www.DrSam.tv
Bonnie,
It is amazing to me that after I have gently encouraged you to be kind you still angrily insist on blasting me with both barrels when you truly do not know me well and apparently do not understand the arguments well.
It seems you equate refusing service with the same thing as “racial discrimination.” It also seems that you believe that all persons are entitled to have any kind of medical treatment regardless of how much it may cost. Someone has to pay for this service. It is not free. Either you pay with higher premiums or you have an oppressive Socialist approach of forcing everyone who works to pay for those who don’t have it. That means you have less money for your gas to go to work, less money to go out with your spouse for breakfast, less money to be able to take a vacation, or buy groceries, etc.
No one ever said that low income folks don’t work hard. The difference in your worldview and mine is that you believe that all needy folks are doomed to poverty and have no hope or opportunities. I say, in America, we all, pretty much have the same opportunities. If you choose to work at McDonalds for 20 years in the back cooking that is great but that is your choice. You could have become a manager. You could have studied harder and spent more money (or taken out loans) and sacrificed longer going without necessities. It is not fair. I consider it almost theft to take from those who worked hard to provide for their families and give it to those who chose not to take opportunities, work, and sacrifice to improve themselves.
Back to my business analogy…
You imply that if I do not treat, give services, provide free product to those who cannot afford my products and services then I am a racist or discriminating in that line of thinking. I say if that is your belief then it is somewhat sad. I would call that abusive, guilt-tripping, implying are all entitled simply by birth to get anything free. With kindness I say this, “It is warped narcissistic thinking.” (See my articles on narcissism in this blog).
Again, Bonnie, let me encourage you to change your approach that seems to be based on anger. It get a person nowhere and/or accomplishes little. It is based on “Force” which creates resistance and rejection in others instead of “Power” which transcends petty things and gets things accomplished in Win-Win fashion.
I encourage you to try kindness. In the end, it always wins!
Bless you, Bonnie!
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
If everyone went to college, there would be no one to build homes and office buildings or fix our roofs. There would be one to put new tires on our cars. There would be no one to do landscaping, moving the boulders around your garden or fountain. Restaurants would not exist because there would be no wait staff.
Yet, often it is these people who experience repeated wear and tear on their bodies, along with the stress of earning low wages in a place designed for the middle class, who need health care the most.
A person making $9 an hour cannot afford health care-period. Not subsizing the health care of such workers is inhumane.
Everyone subsizes public education through their taxes-whether or not they have children. Everyone must pay taxes for social security-even if they don’t live long enough to recieve benefits. Everyone must subsize unemployment whether or not they every get laid off. The reason for this is that it benefits society overall.
And no-people with mental illness-espeically chronic mental illness-do not have the same opportunities as all. Try completing college while having severe depression or having schitzophrenia. Yes, there are those who can complete college who have mild degrees of illness or some with successful mental health treatment. But its often a catch 22 – can’t afford treament – can’t function enough to go to college or start a business – can’t afford health care..
How sad.
Dr. Sam, if you had read my latest post without jumping to conclusions, you would have realized that I am NOT the same “Bonnie” who trashed your credentials and accomplishments and accused you of not caring about your patients; nor did I bring race and discrimination into the arena.
However, I stand firmly behind my beliefs that you were comparing wants and needs, and that in a civilized society, we all need to share some of the responsibility for those who do not have the same opportunities for a variety of reasons. And no, I do not believe that all needy people are doomed to a life of poverty. Due to my disability and an abusive marriage that I had to leave in order to protect my children, they lived below the poverty level all their lives. Two of them are now young adults, one in grad school and one in undergrad, receiving grants and taking out loans and doing their best to succeed.
You do not like it when others assume they know your mind, so please do not assume that you know mine.
By the way, wouldn’t you agree that “Reality” made some excellent points? If it weren’t for those in the service industry, working for low wages and few if any benefits, you would not have the opportunity to go on vacation or eat out. You can call me socialist and narcissistic if you want, but the bottom line is that in a civilized society, we are all interdependent.
Hello,
Getting decent mental health care has been a very big issue for me. I have PTSD from several different abusers during my childhood. Bi polar does help make things any easier. I have been using self injury as a way to try to keep the nightmares and flashbacks from pushing me too far over the edge. I have been disowned from my family and only have one friend/room mate left in my life. So concidering suicide comes often for me. I live in Redding, Shasta County. I have been here for about 6 years. Sadly due to money issues, I can’t afford to move elsewhere to a better county that has better mental health centers.
The issue is, I have medicare and medical. County mental health in Shasta County. Mental health only takes the medi-cal. This is where it suddenly makes no sence. They tell me because they don’t take the medicare, they can’t take the medi-cal as long as I have the medicare. I called social services who told me because I am on SSI disability, I have to have both insurance as the medi-cal is supposed to cover the remaining ballance that medicare doesn’t pay for. I think medicare covers like 80% right now or something. Social services told me mental health is supposed to bill medicare first, and then the medical. Mental health tells me they can’t do it that way.
So I check around and find out that mental health has a buy in program. $7.00 a month. That I can afford. So I go down to sign up. Mental health now tells me that because I have medicare and medi-cal I can’t sign up for their buy in program. One of the walk in evaluation workers actually handed me a phone book and told me to call around and sent me home. I honestly couldn’t believe what I just heard.
So I started calling around. I was either told they don’t take my insurance, or they have a high co-pay between $50.00-$100.00 or tell me I need to go to mental health and get a referal as they only take patients that are refered to them by mental health. When I asked to see the supervisor and explained to him the situation, I was told if I wanted therapy bad enough I would find the money. I explained I was on disability and didn’t have that kind of money. He told me “Then, maybe you should get off SSI and get a job to pay for your therapy”. I was shocked. If I was able to work a job, why the hell would I be on disability. I was making darn near double when I was working than SSI pays.
So I was told to go to the ER to talk. That didn’t work as I was told to wait for someone from mental health to come. I was taken from the ER to mental health long enough to be told they will not provide me with therapy and told to go home. I had to walk back to get my car from the ER and go home. Things have been very bad that I have been calling suicide hotlines trying to keep things together. I explain to the hotline that it’s been very hard to handle the PTSD symtoms and overall have been feeling suicidal. That I just wanted help. Anyway, cops arrived at my house and took me involuntary to the ER on a 72 hour hold. This is like 2am. I had to wait at the ER till 9am when the mental health worker from County Mental Health got on duty. Then I was picked up from the ER and taken to the Crisis center at mental health. Once the worker got there I was told they were not going to help me. Told once again if I wanted therapy or help bad enough I would find the money. The 72 hour hold was torn up, and was given a bus pass for the day and sent home. It didn’t matter that I was suicidal. And this wasn’t the first time I was sent home still suicidal and wanting to die. This has been going on about 4-6 trips to the ER a month for the last 6 months.
Most months, I am taken to the ER for calls to the hotlines asking for help. The bill for a average month of me calling the hotline and getting taken to the ER is $40,000.00 a month for me to basically sit on a hospital bed for 8-9 hours and then sent home with no help what so ever. Doing some math one night I figured out it would cost around $1,200 a YEAR to be able to see a therapist once a week for a year. Instead, medicare is spending $40,000.00 a month for me to sit around at the ER and be sent home still suicidal. It’s a complete waste of money. I really do wish the laws would change. I really do want to get better. But with the system the way it is, I have no way to get better. And to be honest, sometimes I worry if I will be able to resist ending my life. I didn’t ask for these problems. And just because they don’t accept one of the insurance companies I am covered with, doesn’t mean I should get no help at all. Thanks for hearing my comments.
-Stanley
I hear you Stanley. I’m bipolar and afraid to get on disability. Not sure it would make things better for me. I feel good frequently but, then I have an episode and risk losing my job due to doing something crazy, or even being so depressed that I have trouble plugging in an extention cord. The depressions can be so severe that I feel like I’m turning into a vegetable with no brain function. It’s way beyond sadness, it’s feeling nothing, then losing your ability to think.
It’s probably the single thing that’s brought me to faith in Christ. I can look at it as temperary and I can look at it as being part of some bigger plan. Hang on, and good luck.
Bonnie B.,
The reason I reacted towards you the way I did was that you implied I was “pompous” and “insulting.” If you look at your order of posts, you threw the first salvo.
I do appreciate the service sector of society. I belonged to that sector way before I came to where I am at now.
I also believe strongly in the incredible benefits of interdependency.
I do not believe that education is a birth-right. It is a privilege that is acquired with great sacrifice to those hungry to learn and work for it. I teach at the college and graduate level. I have students that have no business being in school because they are wasting their time, our taxes, their parents money, etc. They are there because they get a “free ride” and can party until the money runs out, while more deserving students get bumped off.
I do not believe that just because a person is born that they have a right to any and all type of healthcare. Someone has to pay for it. I believe that the place for genuinely and truly poor folks that cannot help themselves to obtain help is from family first, then charity, and last government if it does not get money by breaking our financial backs through exorbitant taxes.
I believe that the reason healthcare costs are through the ceiling is because of medical malpractice lawsuit laws that need to be changed. You can blame our Prez because he does not want to change this part. He is a lawyer himself. He blames the insurance companies, the drug companies, doctors, and hospitals but never the trial lawyers who wait in greed for a prize funded by us.
You cannot legislate how much people can make in a free society. The moment you do, you kill the goose that give people jobs and government becomes the great Mommy.
I applaud your heroic spirit and raising great children despite all your great obstacles. We need more people like this.
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
The great thing about a free society, Dr. Sam, is that we all have an opportunity to voice our opinions and beliefs. You have expressed yours, and I have expressed mine. Obviously we are at opposite ends of the spectrum and that’s fine. We could go back and forth about corporate greed and personal responsibility and ethics and morals and interdependency in a capitalist economic system, but we’re not going to convince each other to change our beliefs, although hopefully we have at least given each other a different perspective to consider.
But rather than getting all caught up in an argument over who threw the first dart, which could go on forever because I like to be right and I don’t like to back down, I think I need to back down in this situation because I have a tendency to fight aggressively to prove that I am right, whether I am right or not, and this is not the place for such an argument. I truthfully believe that maybe we both fell victim to the confusion generated by having 2 people named “Bonnie” posting with somewhat convergent viewpoints — I know that it was hard for me to sift through your responses to determine what belonged to me and what didn’t — perhaps it was confusing for you as well, and I certainly understand that. While I did say in my second post to you that I found a couple of your statements to be pompous and insulting, I did not mean to imply that you, as a person, are pompous and insulting, but since that’s how I came across, I apologize. I know there is a fine line between being critical of a statement and criticizing or demeaning the person, and while I am learning to straddle that line more gracefully than I have in the past, I sometimes step over that line without realizing it.
People seem to overlook the fact that those who cannot afford their own healthcare help pay for the healthcare of others.
The cost of others healthcare is built into everything a poor person spends their paycheck on – bus fares, water, electricity, natural gas, etc. – companies that offer healthcare benefits to all their employees. Not to mention taxes which pay for the healthcare of all government employees.
For those who have employer provided healthcare – Don’t forget that a parent making $25,000 per year who has one child will often pay the same employee cost of healthcare – at the family rate – as a parent making $500,000 per year who has 3 children.
I’m not sure why a low income parent with one child often has to pay the same family rate as a high income parent with 6 children. But obviously, in these cases, the poor actually have to subsidize the healthcare of the wealthy.
Bonnie B.,
Thank you! That was a very kind and gracious response. Regardless of whether a person falls on one side of an ideological argument or the other, such as the abuses of Socialism and the greed of Capitalism, we may respect each other and still disagree. That is called maturity and adulthood. We both care about others. We just think that there are different ways of doing that effectively. I wish you great success as you try to make this world a better place.
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
http://www.DrSam.tv
Bonnie B.,
Thank you! That was a very kind and gracious response. Regardless of whether a person falls on one side of an ideological argument or the other, such as the abuses of Socialism and the greed of Capitalism, we may respect each other and still disagree. That is called maturity and adulthood. We both care about others. We just think that there are different ways of doing that effectively. I wish you great success as you try to make this world a better place.
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
Bonnie B.,
Thank you! That was a very kind and gracious response. Regardless of whether a person falls on one side of an ideological argument or the other, such as the abuses of Socialism and the greed of Capitalism, we may respect each other and still disagree. That is called maturity and adulthood. We both care about others. We just think that there are different ways of doing that effectively. I wish you great success as you try to make this world a better place.
Samuel Lopez De Victoria, Ph.D.
Bonnie B,
Thank you! That was a very kind and gracious response. Regardless of whether a person falls on one side of an ideological argument or the other, such as the abuses of Socialism and the greed of Capitalism, we may respect each other and still disagree. That is called maturity and adulthood. We both care about others. We just think that there are different ways of doing that effectively. I wish you great success as you try to make this world a better place.
Samuel Lopez De Victoria
Thank you, Dr. Sam. By the way, I do agree that current medical malpractice laws and greedy trial lawyers definitely contribute to the problem. We have become an extremely litigious society in general, ready to cast blame and sue at the drop of a hat, and therapists as well as physicians are forced to incur exorbitant expenses in the purchase of malpractice insurance, driving up the cost of care for everyone. The insurance companies alone are not to blame — the essence of greed and the propensity to find fault are widespread throughout our society. Common sense no longer prevails — this is a country where burglars have won lawsuits after falling through skylights, where spilling a hot drink on yourself is the fault of the vendor for making it too hot, and where we now need “safety instructions” to toast pop-tarts!
Does the President know hat PTSD is? it’s impossibel to work with PTSD, nut it sure would be nice if the government understood what it is and how hard it is to live with. You try working workign with PTSD and maybe you would understand why there are so many homeless people on the steets and turn to drugs and stealing to support because there is no help for disabled people. You should be ashamed. Most of those people are veterans! I was a duputy coroner and I will be homeless soon becasue I can’t find help.
Don’t believe a thing LaPolla says. She’s a scam artist her life is trying to get buy without working.I have known her for years.
JEFFAA,
IF IN FACT YOU KNOW ME THAN BY ALL MEANS I’D LOVE TO KNOW HOW YOU KNOW ME. ANYONE WHO KNOWS ME KNOWS THAT IN FACT I AM IN DISABLED AND HAVE PTSD AS A DIRRECT RESULT FROM MY WORK IN THE KITSAP COUNTY WA CORONER’S OFFICE. UNLESS YOU ALSO HAVE PTSD THEN I’S SORRY TO HEAR THAT, BUT IF YOU DON’T YOU REALLY SHOULD GET THE FACTS BEFORE YOU ASCUSE OF ANYTHING. TRYING TO GET BY WITHOUT HAVING TO WORK I WOULD TRADE MY LIFE WITH ANYONE TO BE WHOLE AGAIN AND BE ABLE TO WORK. LOVED MY JOB EVEN THOUGH IT WAS A TOUGH JOB, BUT I WAS VERY GOOD AT IT. MY LAST PERFORMANCE EVALUATION WAS A 4.72 OUT OF A POSSIBLE 5. 5 BEING THE HIGHIST SCORE YOU CAN GET. AS FOR BEING A SCAM ARTIST THAT IS SO FAR BEYOND A LIE. I HAVE NEVER IN MY LIFE CONNED OR SCAMED ANOTHER SOUL IN THE WORLD, I LIVED MY LIFE TO HELPING OTHERS AND WHAT DID I GET IN RETURN A LOT OF GRADITUDE FROM FAMILIES FOR MY KIND AND COMPASSIONATE CARE FOR HELPING THEM DURING A VERY HARD TIME IN THEIR LIVES. THE CURRENT CORONER HAS NOT SHOWN BE AN OUNCE OF COMPASSION SINCE HE AND HIS TEAM RUINED MY LIFE, A LIFE I WOULD GIVE ANYTHING TO HAVE BACK. ANYONE WHO THINK LIVING THE WAY I AM FORCED TO LIVE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO NEED MENTAL HELP. IN 1935 PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT PASSED THE SOCIAL SECURITY ACT, WHICH PROVIDED PENSIONS FOR RETIRED AGE WORKERS AND HELP FOR WIDOWS, ORPANS, AND THE DISABLED. IN 1965 PRESIDENT JOHNSON AND THE DEMOCRATS PASSED THE LANDMARK BILL TO QUARANTEE HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THSE OVER 65. AND IN 1995 DEMOCRATS AND PRESIDENT CLINTON FOUGHT TO STOP REPUBLIVANS FROM PASSING THE LARGEST MEDICARE CUTS IN HISTORY. THERE HAS NOT BEEN A COST OF LIVING INCREASE FOR PEOPLE ON SOCIAL SECURITY SINCE PRESIDENT OBAMA TOOK OFFICE AND NOW HE’S TRYING TO DO AWAY WITH SOCIAL SECURITY. DO YOU HAVE PARENTS OR GRANDPARENTS WHO RELY ON SOCIAL SECURITY? IF SO DON’T LIE ABOUT ME STAND UP AND DO WHAT’S RIGHT FOR OUR COUNTY OUR STATE AND OUR COMMUNITY.
If you’re so ill than why did you run for coroner.In case you didn’t know SS wasn’t intended to live on. You’re just an angry person.
My thoughts on mental health parity? I’ve always found it interesting that many psychiatrists support mental health parity, yet don’t take insurance. They love the idea of mental health parity in theory, just as long as it doesn’t affect them. So, I’m not sure mental health parity means much in the city where I live. Most of the psychiatrists here don’t take insurance and a lot of therapists don’t either.
OK LaPolla let me tell you how I know you. I know your son and I’ll use the first letters in his name because he has nothing to do with this. (JL) and I also know your EX who I just happened to talk a few days ago (DS). So I do know you and what I’m talking about.
JEFFAA
Unfortunately, the Mental Health Parity act has ended up costing us (my wife and I) more money rather than saving us any. We have Blue Cross Blue Shield for medical coverage but it includes NO mental health coverage. However, my employer (a major electric utility company in the Southeastern US) offers mental health coverage through our Employee Assistance Program. The EAP program is (or at least was) very good. We had a $25 copay with no deductible for each visit to the psych doctor. The remainder of the bill was fully covered through EAP. However, with the new Mental Health Parity rules, we must now pay several thousand dollars per year as a deductible, and we only get 80% coverage for each visit. The end result is my wife and I feel we cannot afford the large deductible each year and she will be forced to cease her visits to her psychiatrist. She suffers from treatment resistant depression and has been on (or at least tried) dozens of medications over the last 5 years. This “parity” has done anything but make our mental health coverage affordable and accessible.
If you know DS then that clearly explains you don’t have a clue about who I am or how I became ill. DS is a dead beat Dad and beats his children and has no concern about the scars he put on my son & the mental illness he caused for both me & my son. You’re probably the one who worked for the State & helped DS from getting away from having to pay child support or health care or put my son through college as he was supposed too. As for me running for Coroner, that’s how I became disabled. Get the facts and mind your own business. You want to change lives? I’d do it in a heart beat you can have my disability & I go back to being a happy productive person doing good thing for the people of the community I live in.
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