Damage Control: How To Deal With Losing Mental Health Care Coverage

Tuesday I told you about the shaky mental health care services in Asheville, North Carolina and briefly touched on Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome (ADS), the affliction many folks suffer when they abruptly stop taking their antidepressants.

Keep in mind that ADS isn’t the only negative outcome of losing mental health care coverage – not by a long shot. Abruptly stopping any kind of medication can bring severe mental and physical consequences.

Losing mental health insurance also leaves people without other psychiatric, therapy, and counseling services.

Today, let’s talk about damage control – what you can do if you should ever find yourself without mental health care services.

If you lose your regular health insurance: Regular health insurance is defined as any medical benefit package you get through your employer, through your spouse’s health plan, through an organization with which you’re affiliated, or any individual policy you purchase on your own.

• COBRA: COBRA, or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, allows you to take your employer-sponsored group health insurance with you for up to 18 months if you switch jobs or your spouse, from whom you obtained the insurance, passes away.
• Individual health insurance policies: Purchasing your own medical care policy is more expensive than paying into group coverage, but definitely less expensive than having no coverage at all.
• Subsidized health care: Contact your state’s department of insurance for information regarding public assistance programs as well as Medicaid and Medicare.

If you lose your subsidized mental health care services: Subsidized health care services, for these purposes, are defined as any health care programs for which you can sign up that are funded by local, state, or federal government.

• Contact your state’s insurance department: Your state’s insurance department may already have a plan in action for folks who’ve lost government-funded mental health care services. The department can also point you in the direction of other nearby programs (i.e. facilities in a neighboring city).
• Sample medications: If you can afford to pay for the occasional doctor appointment, he or she may have the resources to provide you with sample packs of your medication. While not a long-term fix, it will help you avoid abruptly stopping your medication.
• Discount prescription plans: The Internet can be a lifesaver in terms of finding information. Check out PPARx, iVillage’s Medication Assistance Resources, and the various GSK savings programs.
• Self-help: Again, the Internet comes to the rescue. Look into online communities for the therapy sessions you’re missing. Utilize resources available from organizations such as DBSA and NAMI. Refer to your personal recovery plan for steps you can take to maintain your good mental health. You can even reach out to close loved ones with whom you feel comfortable and ask them to “take the place” of your regular counselor or therapist. Chances are, they’ve been doing it for years!

If you have any other suggestions for mental health care “damage control,” share them in the comments!

Image: Newscom