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Mental Health How do Americans without health insurance who are suffering from mental illness get their anti-psychotic medication??

Boku_

Boku_

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Joined
Nov 4, 2008
Messages
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Do they have to pay the full price for them out of their own pocket?

What about unemployed people with schizophrenia or PTSD who would function much better taking drugs like Seroquel or olanzapine is there government programs to supply them with the medication they need or do they need to go without?
 
we have medicaid, a free government insurance program. eligibility and coverage varies by state.

if you're completely unemployed and no one in your household has income, you likely qualify. it's the working poor who often get fucked. it's called the "benefits cliff." when you earn enough to lose certain government benefits, the value of which exceed your wage increase. this is a huge barrier to escaping poverty. straight up dystopian.
 
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One more question is the health system in the USA better in 2019 for providing health care to low income earners than it was 10-20-30 years ago?

I remember watching Micheal Moore's 2007 film Sicko and thinking Americas health care system is fucked up
 
you go without until you end up in the emergency room. even if you some how qualify for medicaid, the backlog of wait times and the hoops you go through to get appointments, medication, etc cost so much money in lost work & time most people end up not getting the medication they need so they kill their girlfriends or shoot up their workplace or whatever. your best bet is to end up in the emergency room in a blue state, travel to end up in a blue state emergency room, or buy them off the street.

after Obamacare things were better. more people were covered. more poor black people. Republicans who hate poor people more than they even hate blacks, did everything in their power to scale back protections for the poor. so for like three years of my adult life I had (too expensive, will never be able to afford again) health insurance. it's fucking insulting when people tell me about their new therapists or whatever, I'm just like -- well, I told HR to put a DNR on my emergency contact because if I ended up hurting myself that bad at work (which won't provide me with health insurance) to just let me die rather than ruin my life with hundreds of thousands worth of debt. the HR woman started crying because she said her mom is dying in Wisconsin or whatever disgusting white milk place she's from and I was like does it look like I give a fuck?
 
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Health Insurance is definitely better since the affordable care act. Before then you would have to pay for things like prescriptions out pocket even if you were homeless and struggling. Now at least you can get the new insurance easily, in NYC they are very helpful. Not sure how it is throughout other parts of the country but we have decent social services.

But years ago I was worse and I had to pay full price for my scripts and a sizable chunk of my pay went towards it. And even once your on your feet they will still help you out for awhile. The system still has a ton of flaws, but coming from a person with health issues I find it much easier to get help these days.
 
A lot of them simply don't. I've seen first-hand that even with insurance/medicaid a lot of the newer psych meds like atypical antipsychotics especially are simply too expensive. Even older ones. I mean people can't even afford insulin for Christ's sake. There are also a lot of hoops to jump through to get mental health care in the first place and a lot of poorer people simply don't have access. In my city they shutdown some 75% of the community mental health clinics without any warning, and for some people that goes from a 20 minute walk to a 2 hour bus ride, which is completely undoable for a lot of people. Not to mention education which encourages people to seek help in the first place is sorely lacking.

It's almost like there's a better way to do things ?
 
Mine is $0 under my SSDI Medicare HMO. (I am disabled.)

I do not like the HMO, but my meds are free. I do not qualify for Medicaid.
 
MaggieV said:
Mine is $0 under my SSDI Medicare HMO. (I am disabled.)

I do not like the HMO, but my meds are free. I do not qualify for Medicaid.
Click to expand...

I'm really happy for you. My prescriptions are usually free after insurance too. I wish everyone could be so fortunate
 
How does the Social Security disability benefit work in America?

is it similar to the Australian disability support pension? In that it is OK if you live with relatives or in public housing but the DSP is tough to rent in the private rental market with only a single room/shared bathroom/shared kitchen in a rooming house affordable in most major Australian cities.

I can't imagine it would pay much seeing how low some of the wages American's work for in unskilled labour.

I understand things are cheaper in parts of America except for medical treatment. But don't get me wrong it's great some people get looked after free of charge.

don't some social security payments in the US involve redeeming food vouchers and next to none cash payments?
 
Sorry to bump a old thread but can someone please answer my above post
 
No, Social Security payments are totally different from food vouchers. (Food Stamps)

You might qualify for one, both or neither depending on one's circumstances. There is also a separate housing financial assistance. (section 8 assistance)
 
Depends if you qualify for fed/state assistance. If you are the working poor like a lot of us. welp you are screwed. But depending on location the Hospital will work with you on payments or even forgive the debt. I was lucky enough to get my ER bills voided or for pennies on the dollar last year. The lady in the financial office was kind and let me know about the debt relief.
 
@White_Rose Could you give me some examples White Rose in US dollars of the rate of the American Social Security payments that are intended for people unable to work like the disabled or elderly.

@LIE495 Are Americans working in jobs like Wal-mart, K-mart, McDonalds, Burger King, KFC Dunk'n'Donuts considered to be working poor? I remember seeing a doco on TV where a young American woman living in Orlando FL was working mornings in dunk'n'Donuts and evenings at McDonalds yet she couldn't save up the money to get a rental property and was living in a cheap motel room with her young daughter and mother.
 
I don't know the exact numbers, Boku.

I have a sister in law that is blind and has spent a fair amount of time in mental institutions and half way homes. That is where she met my brother in law (my wife's brother). She is a good person, but has some problems. I do know that she gets a social security payment, food stamps and lives in an apartment in a nice building (no rats or bugs) that is subsidized ( section 8 ) and that her healthcare is taken care of. She also has two sons so she has her hands full. So basically I know that each are separate payments. I also know that there are roadblocks to getting this assistance. I wish I could give you more details but I really don't want to press family for details. We just help whenever we can.
 
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I pay everything out of pocket..we have a small business and so no health insurance..its 155 an hour to see pshyc Dr but after initial apt,u only go once a month..I pay for all my meds out of pocket and just get generic and use discount coupons when I can. It's awful. I mean awful..eats a big hole in our pocket my bipolar disorder does. I live in TN in the great south . Just for reference...so ya it's hard y'all !
 
@Boku If you make just enough not to get financial benefits from the state/fed then yeah it's the working poor.. Also depends on where you live, have family ect.. but if you gotta pay out of pocket for insurance and make just enough for that benefit threshold,I would consider that the working poor
 
Where I live in a major American city they have free clinics. The one I go to gave me Suboxone and antipsychotics through their in-house pharmacy when I had no ID or insurance. If your in the middle of nowhere and can't travel ur fucked though.
 
Boku_ said:
One more question is the health system in the USA better in 2019 for providing health care to low income earners than it was 10-20-30 years ago?

I remember watching Micheal Moore's 2007 film Sicko and thinking Americas health care system is fucked up
Click to expand...
You mean Obama care? Without becoming political. Yes . The coverage is better and you are allowed to stay on your parents plan until the age of 26 instead of 18. It's based on income , it's a sliding scale. It's insurance that is subsidized by the government. You can be poor or not to qualify, but you must work atleast a minimum amount to get the government rebate, or tax credit.

Certain States when it first rolled out it didn't work at all and there was all that negative press about it. Tell you what I applied for it this year cost me 50 bucks a month and it's better coverage than they offer at work through my career. And I have so many pre-existing health conditions. Something like 30 million Americans are in the program. I think it works but there's still far too many people that have no safety net.
Is it perfect. No. But it's a heck of a lot better then nothing.
 
When I was in Washington State I got free health insurance from the state of Washington just because I applied and I made less than 48,000 a year. It was sick I felt like I was in a whole different country. I remember I got a hospital bill once and it started out at like 5 grand and at the bottom where it shows the amount due was 0.00.

Moved back to Texas making 55k. MEC plan through my job is trash. Made too much to qualify for any subsidies from the Affordable Care Act. And any private insurance was between 4:00 and $600 a month just in premiums.
 
My Medicaid rocks except for dental all they'll cover is tooth extraction. But scripts are $1, copays are $0, ambulance is $0. I went to rehab once to get off suboxone and they footed $30,000 for that.
 
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