Insurance Doesnt Cover Mental Health

[Parents! Get help here!]

We have a 16 year old daughter who is struggling with BPD. Our insurance does not cover ANY mental health services. We can have 6 visits a year with a therapist from a pre-approved list and that's it. She needs extensive counseling. She is a cutter and has expressed that she wants to die. She went from A's to C's and D's and F's. We are lucky our pediatrician has a behavioral health nurse who put her on an anti depressant and mood stabilizer, but she needs extensive counseling and therapy. What resources are there to help pay for professional counseling? We can't affod $150 a week out of pocket.

[Pondereth]

We have a 16 year old daughter who is struggling with BPD. Our insurance does not cover ANY mental health services. We can have 6 visits a year with a therapist from a pre-approved list and that's it. She needs extensive counseling. She is a cutter and has expressed that she wants to die. She went from A's to C's and D's and F's. We are lucky our pediatrician has a behavioral health nurse who put her on an anti depressant and mood stabilizer, but she needs extensive counseling and therapy. What resources are there to help pay for professional counseling? We can't affod $150 a week out of pocket.

Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders

[lbjnltx]

Apply for Medicaid through SS disability

I find it hard to believe after all the health care reform that there are limits to coverage for mental health care for a minor.

I will try to do some research on this as it has come up many times in the past week and let you know what I find out.

Stay strong and keep looking for answers and help.

[lbjnltx]

According to the Parity act of the ACA (Affordable Care Act) also known as Health Care Reform insurance policies purchased through the Insurance Market Place must provide mental health care at the same level as other types of care.

Points to consider:

Plans cannot put lifetime limits on basic health or mental health care.

Plans must cover mental health and substance abuse at parity.

No annual limits are allowed for basic health care.

Health insurers will no longer be permitted to deny, limit or exclude coverage of pre-existing medical or mental health conditions or place annual or lifetime limits on coverage for basic health services. Many people with mental illnesses have been historically victimized by these exclusionary policies.

Plans will not be able to place annual limits on basic health and mental health services unless the plan was purchased before March 2010 and was renewed, unchanged, each year.

If your policy was purchased under a small group or individual plan through the Health Insurance Market place the above applies to your coverage and policy.

This information was taken from the NAMI website: www2.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Issue_Spotlights&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=79606