Post by Mel on Oct 10, 2006 19:44:28 GMT -5
We Need Equal Treatment
by Cynthia Hammer, MSW
I have a mental illness. Why do I find it so hard to tell you this? Why are my throat constricted, my palms sweaty, and my fingers trembling as I write this? I don't have trouble telling you my eyes are not perfect and that I need to wear contact lenses. I don't have difficulty telling you I have arthritis in my left knee that sometimes limits my physical activities. Why should I mind telling you that I have something wrong with my brain and how well it works? It is because of the shame and stigma associated with mental illness.
Why should this be so? Mental illness is common, very common. One out of ten people will have a mental illness during their lifetime. Most people think mental illness means someone hallucinates and is not in touch with reality, but mental illness is much broader than that. It includes a range of illnesses from attention deficit disorder to severe depression and anxiety disorders. Many people with mental illnesses are highly successful and make significant contributions to society. Here are the names of a few: Mike Douglas, Walter Cronkite, Ted Turner and Robin Williams.
People with mental illness are shamed and stigmatized. Why? . Scientists have learned more about the brain in the past ten years, then they learned in all preceding years. This is what they have learned. Bad parenting does not cause mental illness. It is not caused by moral failure. Someone is not being punished with mental illness for being bad or evil. A person does not choose to be mentally ill because he or she lacks character or moral fiber although there continues to be the belief that a mentally ill person could be different if he/she chose to and really tried.
Mental illness is not a choice. People do not choose to be mentally ill. It results from something going wrong in the brain. There are other illnesses that result from things going wrong in the brain, such as Parkinson's Disease or Alzheimer's Disease, but these illnesses have no shame and stigma associated with them. People with these brain illnesses get good medical care, along with society's compassion and understanding. Is it because these illnesses of the brain have physical symptoms? Is it only the brain illnesses that cause changes in a person's emotions, thoughts and behaviors that we stigmatize and discriminate against? If so, what is the rational?
Mental illnesses are devastating. A recent study by the World Health Organization, in listing the ten most debilitating illnesses, included four mental illnesses. Yet mental illnesses can be successfully treated. Over 80% of people with bipolar disorder recover with proper treatment. Over 80% of the people treated for severe depression recover. In fact, rates for recovery from mental illnesses surpass the recovery or cure rates for many physical illnesses.
Early intervention in diagnosis and treating mental illnesses is key. Mental illnesses, when untreated, usually worsen over time. With each manic episode, the likelihood of the episode being more severe, more protracted and more likely to recur increases. Severe depression, left untreated, worsens, often ending in suicide. Years ago we had little knowledge about the brain and how it functions Prior to the past thirty years, physicians had few or no medicines to help control the symptoms of mental illness and no way verifiable way to diagnose a particular mental illness. They usually employed a quiet environment and talk therapies to "heal" the person with an ill brain. Today, that is no longer the case. We have a number of medicines that adequately control the symptoms of a whole range of mental illnesses, with more and better medicines being developed all the time. We have MRI scans that demonstrate when something in the brain is not functioning correctly or is not anatomically normal. With mental illness, a person begins behaving differently. The change in behavior is caused by something wrong or functioning wrong in the person's brain. Mental illnesses have physical causes. Mental illnesses are physical illnesses. The only difference is that the physical illness is in the brain, instead of some other part of the body.
Yet private medical insurance plans discriminate in the kind of medical coverage they provide for these illnesses of the brain. Although plans may differ slightly, the following is typical. of the coverage available for mental illnesses.
If I have something the matter with any other part of my body, from a wart to a cancer, I can see my physician as often as I want, and have any visits covered at 80% of the cost. If I need hospitalization, there is no limit to how long I may stay as long as the physician says I need to be in the hospital. The hospital bill is covered in full. But for an illness in my brain, I am allowed only twelve visits a year to a physician or other mental health provider. These visits are covered at only 50% of the cost. If I needed more than 12 visits in a year, I have to pay, out of pocket, in full. If I require hospitalization, I am allowed to stay for five days, total, in any one year. If I require extended hospitalization for my illness, again, I must pay for it myself at 100%. Many families, even with insurance, go into debt or bankruptcy following an episode of mental illness. I thought this is what insurance is supposed to prevent.
Typical Coverage Mental
Illnesses All Other
Illnesses
Outpatient Visits 12/year* Unlimited
Co-pay on Visits 50% 20%
Hospital Days 5/year* Unlimited
*The patient must pay out of pocket, at 100%, any care exceeding these arbitrary limits on care.
Senate Bill 5425 would correct the inequities in coverage in all private group insurance plans sold in Washington State. Mental illnesses would be covered as other illnesses are. But won't this be costly you ask? Too costly? More than we can afford? Financial data collected and analyzed by Price Waterhouse accountants and favorably reviewed by the state's Department of Health indicate that the cost per enrolled member, with our current mix of insurance plans, would increase by $1.21 to$3.47/month. If more insurance companies switch to managed care plans, the expected cost increase would be even less.
Mental health insurance parity is an issue of fairness and justice. Why should you receive care for your injured arm or sore little finger, while I can't receive equally good care for my brain? Someday, something could malfunction in your brain, or your daughter's brain, or your best friend's brain. Mental illness can occur in anyone, at any time, and it requires adequate and appropriate care.
We need equal treatment. We need mental health insurance parity.
Cynthia Hammer, MSW
President, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill - of Pierce County,WA
Ms. Hammer is also President of ADDult Support of Washington for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder www.addult.org
Telephone: 253-759-5085
by Cynthia Hammer, MSW
I have a mental illness. Why do I find it so hard to tell you this? Why are my throat constricted, my palms sweaty, and my fingers trembling as I write this? I don't have trouble telling you my eyes are not perfect and that I need to wear contact lenses. I don't have difficulty telling you I have arthritis in my left knee that sometimes limits my physical activities. Why should I mind telling you that I have something wrong with my brain and how well it works? It is because of the shame and stigma associated with mental illness.
Why should this be so? Mental illness is common, very common. One out of ten people will have a mental illness during their lifetime. Most people think mental illness means someone hallucinates and is not in touch with reality, but mental illness is much broader than that. It includes a range of illnesses from attention deficit disorder to severe depression and anxiety disorders. Many people with mental illnesses are highly successful and make significant contributions to society. Here are the names of a few: Mike Douglas, Walter Cronkite, Ted Turner and Robin Williams.
People with mental illness are shamed and stigmatized. Why? . Scientists have learned more about the brain in the past ten years, then they learned in all preceding years. This is what they have learned. Bad parenting does not cause mental illness. It is not caused by moral failure. Someone is not being punished with mental illness for being bad or evil. A person does not choose to be mentally ill because he or she lacks character or moral fiber although there continues to be the belief that a mentally ill person could be different if he/she chose to and really tried.
Mental illness is not a choice. People do not choose to be mentally ill. It results from something going wrong in the brain. There are other illnesses that result from things going wrong in the brain, such as Parkinson's Disease or Alzheimer's Disease, but these illnesses have no shame and stigma associated with them. People with these brain illnesses get good medical care, along with society's compassion and understanding. Is it because these illnesses of the brain have physical symptoms? Is it only the brain illnesses that cause changes in a person's emotions, thoughts and behaviors that we stigmatize and discriminate against? If so, what is the rational?
Mental illnesses are devastating. A recent study by the World Health Organization, in listing the ten most debilitating illnesses, included four mental illnesses. Yet mental illnesses can be successfully treated. Over 80% of people with bipolar disorder recover with proper treatment. Over 80% of the people treated for severe depression recover. In fact, rates for recovery from mental illnesses surpass the recovery or cure rates for many physical illnesses.
Early intervention in diagnosis and treating mental illnesses is key. Mental illnesses, when untreated, usually worsen over time. With each manic episode, the likelihood of the episode being more severe, more protracted and more likely to recur increases. Severe depression, left untreated, worsens, often ending in suicide. Years ago we had little knowledge about the brain and how it functions Prior to the past thirty years, physicians had few or no medicines to help control the symptoms of mental illness and no way verifiable way to diagnose a particular mental illness. They usually employed a quiet environment and talk therapies to "heal" the person with an ill brain. Today, that is no longer the case. We have a number of medicines that adequately control the symptoms of a whole range of mental illnesses, with more and better medicines being developed all the time. We have MRI scans that demonstrate when something in the brain is not functioning correctly or is not anatomically normal. With mental illness, a person begins behaving differently. The change in behavior is caused by something wrong or functioning wrong in the person's brain. Mental illnesses have physical causes. Mental illnesses are physical illnesses. The only difference is that the physical illness is in the brain, instead of some other part of the body.
Yet private medical insurance plans discriminate in the kind of medical coverage they provide for these illnesses of the brain. Although plans may differ slightly, the following is typical. of the coverage available for mental illnesses.
If I have something the matter with any other part of my body, from a wart to a cancer, I can see my physician as often as I want, and have any visits covered at 80% of the cost. If I need hospitalization, there is no limit to how long I may stay as long as the physician says I need to be in the hospital. The hospital bill is covered in full. But for an illness in my brain, I am allowed only twelve visits a year to a physician or other mental health provider. These visits are covered at only 50% of the cost. If I needed more than 12 visits in a year, I have to pay, out of pocket, in full. If I require hospitalization, I am allowed to stay for five days, total, in any one year. If I require extended hospitalization for my illness, again, I must pay for it myself at 100%. Many families, even with insurance, go into debt or bankruptcy following an episode of mental illness. I thought this is what insurance is supposed to prevent.
Typical Coverage Mental
Illnesses All Other
Illnesses
Outpatient Visits 12/year* Unlimited
Co-pay on Visits 50% 20%
Hospital Days 5/year* Unlimited
*The patient must pay out of pocket, at 100%, any care exceeding these arbitrary limits on care.
Senate Bill 5425 would correct the inequities in coverage in all private group insurance plans sold in Washington State. Mental illnesses would be covered as other illnesses are. But won't this be costly you ask? Too costly? More than we can afford? Financial data collected and analyzed by Price Waterhouse accountants and favorably reviewed by the state's Department of Health indicate that the cost per enrolled member, with our current mix of insurance plans, would increase by $1.21 to$3.47/month. If more insurance companies switch to managed care plans, the expected cost increase would be even less.
Mental health insurance parity is an issue of fairness and justice. Why should you receive care for your injured arm or sore little finger, while I can't receive equally good care for my brain? Someday, something could malfunction in your brain, or your daughter's brain, or your best friend's brain. Mental illness can occur in anyone, at any time, and it requires adequate and appropriate care.
We need equal treatment. We need mental health insurance parity.
Cynthia Hammer, MSW
President, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill - of Pierce County,WA
Ms. Hammer is also President of ADDult Support of Washington for Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder www.addult.org
Telephone: 253-759-5085