Warning: Rant follows below, after the jump.

Back in August, I told you about the Consumers Union Cover America Tour – the campaign geared toward putting faces on the Americans who don’t have health insurance, who can’t afford their prescription medications, or who otherwise have problems finding affordable and quality health care.

During that post, I pointed out two specific stories: Tom’s story, the man who began experiencing depression from the pain and hopelessness of his health problems and high cost of health care, and Kathy’s story, the woman who compared not being able to pay for her diabetes medicine as “committing suicide slowly.”

Now, I want to point you to Kim’s story.

Kim, a drug safety advocate, shared her story with the Consumers Union when she hosted a house party for the Cover America Tour and supporters in Minneapolis during the Republican National Convention. Kim’s husband, who had no history of depression and was merely having trouble sleeping, committed suicide five weeks after his doctor gave him sample packs of antidepressants. Kim later quit her job to become a freelancer and have more time to devote to her drug safety advocacy work. 18 months later, after her COBRA period was up, Kim tried to get a private health insurance plan from the same health insurance company she’d been with for years.

She was denied.

Once the insurance company saw that she’d used the 20 allotted counselor visits from her previous policy, she was denied. Even though she explained she didn’t have a mental illness – that she used the counseling sessions for grief therapy – she was denied.

The insurance company had the audacity to tell her “mental illness starts out slow” and that she might turn into “Britney Spears.”

Kim finally found coverage with another insurance company, but she had to be able to show that she hadn’t received any psychiatric care in the two years prior to being approved.

You can read Kim’s story and watch her video online. Then, feel free to join in my rants below after the jump.

First, where does the first insurance company get off denying Kim coverage because she used the coverage they offered her? Why offer the counseling services if they were just going to punish her for using them? Was offering the counseling services in the first place just some kind of stunt so the insurance company could say, “Oh, look at us, we’re so advanced, we care about your overall health,” while all along using the coverage to make a list of policyholders who may potentially need mental health care in the future? I think so.

Second, just who the crap does the first insurance company people think they are? Giving Kim advice on the progression of mental illness? Excuse me, but I didn’t know insurance company employees were also trained medical professionals.

Third, how dare they use Britney Spears’s personal life like that.

Fourth, is it just me or does it seem like not one person in the health insurance industry has ever needed a mental health service? I mean, seriously. One in every four people during any given year meets the criteria for a mental illness. Either the three totally mentally health people out of every group of four are working at these health insurance companies, or the people at these health insurance companies who have mental health problems know some secret to mental health care the rest of us don’t.

Fifth, I am appalled – but not shocked – that Kim was basically put through a two-year test to determine whether or not she could get coverage with the other company. People don’t purchase insurance because they don’t need it; people purchase insurance because they do need it, or because they want to be prepared in the event that they need it. Why was this woman made to prove that she wouldn’t need mental health care before she purchased her policy? MONEY.

Essentially, these insurance companies are promoting stigma. If you need mental health coverage, they shun you, making you – and so many other Americans – feel as if your mental health is not something to discuss or deal with.

So, what do you think about Kim’s story?

Image: SXC

Post from: Blisstree

Want To Keep Your Health Insurance? Better Not Use Mental Health Services

This week at Mental Health Notes, I recommended checking out John La Puma and the book he wrote with Rebecca Powell Marx, Chef MD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine, as well as I Dose, which claims to be “the perfect Binaural Beats experience.” I also introduced you to Frank Calloway and the Cover America Tour, and then asked you what you thought about Barack Obama’s stance on mental health parity and to share good stories about mental health.

In the world of mental health news, UC Irvine researchers may be quickening the pace to finding more effective medications to treat panic disorders now that they’ve found out how to “switch off” the traumatic feelings bad memories can bring about, and Oregon Health & Science University researchers may have a drug that could help people addicted to alcohol quit drinking. An international group of researchers have found that the proteins that modify DNA are more expressed in people who commit suicide and may help identify underlying causes of depression, while another group of researchers supported by the National Institute of Mental Health may have discovered why some mothers develop postpartum depression and others don’t.

Regarding mental health advocacy, Dr. Waqas. A. Awan would like to pass along news of the new Web site MyFamilyHealth.com, which “allows people to connect with their relatives and track family health history.” The DBSA’s 2008 National Conference: The Power of Peers is drawing closer (September 10-14), and you can still take advantage of Advance Rates if you register before August 3.

Here at b5media’s Health & Wellness Channel, we’re as busy as ever! Mental Health Notes was featured at Best Health Mag yesterday, and a whole slue of us is in the Health & Wellness Channel are in included in eDrugsearch.com’s “The World’s Top Blogs On Health and Medicine.” Liz at Alzheimer’s Notes shares an informative video about the “creation of Leeza’s Place, an oasis for caregivers and loved ones dealing with Alzheimer’s Disease,” and Angelique at Breaking the Mirror issues a call for advice for a man suffering from postpartum depression and an eating disorder. Susan at Grounded Fitness explains why yoga can help make you happy, and Grace at Kids Health Notes offers a nice round up of blog contests and giveaways, while Karen at Pink Ribbon Review talks about the benefits and downfalls of emotional writing.

Oh, and Kristen at Lively Women has one of the worst. bruises. ever.

If you have something you’d like featured in next week’s Saturday Sanity, shoot me an email with “Saturday Sanity” (or similar) in the subject line and we’ll take it from there!

Image: SXC

Post from: Blisstree

Saturday Sanity: Tons Of New Mental Health Research

Back in April, I told you about the Consumers Union Prescription for Change and its mission to “urge the FDA to require the same MedWatch 1-800 number given in print drug advertisements to also be given during television drug advertisements, as well as Web site information.”

Today, I want to introduce you to a new Consumers Union campaign, the Cover America Tour.

From the Web site:

The Cover America Tour, sponsored by Consumer Reports Health, will roam the country this summer, putting faces on the flaws in our broken health care system. At every stop, we’ll videotape Americans talking about the challenges they’ve experienced getting the affordable, high quality health care they need.

We want to make sure that politicians promoting solutions listen to your voice, not just the voices of the big money lobbyists representing the health care industry.

This campaign is interesting for all Americans, and Americans with mental health conditions are no exception. Prescription medications for mental health disorders such as anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia can cost hundreds of dollars a month – a big chunk of change, especially for someone who doesn’t have adequate health insurance (another problem many Americans with mental illnesses face).

The two videos my contact at the Consumers Union recommended are:

• The one from Tom, who along with his partner buys his own health insurance but was still going to have to pay $10,000 for a hip replacement (due to arthritis) and began experiencing depression from all the pain and hopeless feelings. Tom eventually waited until he was 65 and qualified for Medicare before having the hip replacement (he and his partner, who are potters – not of the Harry variety – realized they couldn’t make and sell enough pots to cover the cost of the surgery until then). He had waited so long, his muscles had began to atrophy.
• The one from Kathy, who can’t afford her diabetes medication on her Social Security income. She lost her health insurance after her husband retired and they divorced, and even the cost of her diabetes medication at Wal-Mart is over $200 a month. Kathy likens her situation to “committing suicide slowly.”

These stories are not only heartbreaking; they’re also close to each and every one of our homes. These people are your family members, friends, and neighbors. If they’re not you today, they could be you tomorrow.

I only just became familiar with the Cover America Tour this week, but I already love this campaign. These videos give faces and voices to statistics, making it harder to keep ignoring the problem of inadequate health insurance and high health care costs.

You can check out The Route to find out if the Cover America Tour is scheduled to stop in your area, share your story online, or read the Cover America Tour Blog to stay up to date with what’s going on. You can even submit your photo and receive a free Cover America Tour tee-shirt.

So what do you think about the Cover America Tour? Do you know anyone who’s participated, or have you participated in some way?

Image: SXC

Post from: Blisstree

Cover America Tour: Americans And The High Cost Of Health Care