WOW--it is so confusing, isn't it? I have spent many hours on the phone w/our ins. company (mental health outsourced to a not very good company; I finally complained through my husband's HR dept. {documented all the hassles I was having}) & my husband's work company investigated & fired that mental health company!!! Now we have a new one!! I felt like I needed MORE therapy appts. due to the stress of dealing w/that ins. company!

Through my husband's work I get 30 therapy visits a year (DBT is also considered therapy so I don't turn those in as they are only $45.00 vs. $120.00 for individual therapy). The ins. co. covers 85% of the cost of the therapy visits. I get unlimited visits w/my meds provider who is a psychiatric nurse practitioner who spends 45-60 min. w/me at each visit & charges $115.00 (much less than a pdoc & much more intimate & she REALLY knows me & listens to my opinions--a collaborative relationship).

The np has actually taken an afternoon off for no charge to accompany me to a medical appt. that I was having severe anxiety over & kept canceling & rescheduling. (She has also treated her clients for no charge who have lost their jobs or in financial difficulty & really helps out w/giving lots of samples so you can save money on meds.) The np knew I needed to address my physical health as well as my mental health so she just said she would escort me & help me make it to the appt. She even called the doc in advance to make sure I wouldn't have to wait in reception area (have cried in there before so was scared I would do that again & embarrass myself) & np talked to doc to make sure she knew I was having severe anxiety & was in a "fragile" state & to have a nurse who "understood" these kinds of situations so she wouldn't be freaked out if I cried or something (which I did).
The internal med doc tried to reassure me that one out of four Americans have some mental health issues in their lifetime so I wasn’t so “weird.” She (IM doc) says she addresses all aspects of your health & that she will not separate the physical from the mental & emotional; they all are equally important & entwined.

I think I have been "lucky"--well, if you consider being ill since I was 15 (first suicide attempt) & not getting correct treatment until 48 or so when internal med doc dxed me as bipolar rather than unipolar depression due to my mother being bipolar (severe case & did commit suicide) & I was in an obvious "mixed" state to her at that appt. I had previously been going to a GP & really believe you need to see a specialist. I will never go to a GP again!
Unfortunately, I had a suicide attempt after a long hypo mania then crashed into depression (didn’t know the hypo mania & not sleeping was so dangerous as it felt SO GOOD) & husband had to take me to the ER. That was covered 100%.
Internal med doc (so very much more thorough; also found out I had low thyroid & pernicious anemia & very high amounts of cortisol due to stress & sleep disorders)--all those can cause mood problems. She sent me to a psychiatric specialist.

Now pretty much 90% of the women in my DBT group (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) are getting all their treatment & meds free from Medicare. They are considered “disabled” & the gov’t covers their expenses for mental health (& physical) treatment. At the center there it is a one-stop place—group therapy, individual therapy, ACT teams, pharmacy for their meds, etc.
This mental health facility also does a sliding scale according to your income if you are not on disability.
I have a friend from my support group (actually several) on disability—like $800.00 per month to cover her mental health therapy treatment; she goes to therapy at least twice a week. Seeing her pdoc is covered as well. Her medication is covered but some of her medications they will balk at—like she needs name brand Ambien & they want her to take generic, which she has tried, but the generic doesn’t work for her.
Another friend on COBRA insurance as her husband lost his job will not cover much of her son’s ADHD medication or her name brand bipolar stuff. They contact her doc & try to have the doc prescribe the cheapest med as a first line treatment even if the doc thinks something else --like an atypical—would be best for her symptoms (which I think is totally INAPPROPRIATE as they are not docs; they are just trying to save money).
Disability forms are not consumer-friendly & even in the newest edition of the Disability Handbook the gov’t actually says they usually deny you at least twice! They recommend getting a disability attorney to help you (who takes a percentage once you are accepted)! I think that is totally wrong!! Making the forms so hard to fill out that the gov’t actually recommends you get an attorney! WTF?? Is the gov’t getting kickbacks from the attorneys or what?
I do know of one friend who got accepted for disability on the first try, but I think she was extremely lucky.
My husband’s insurance did cover 100% of my IOP (Intensive Outpatient Program) that I went to 4 days a week at a hospital for about 8 weeks & I told them I was ready to “graduate” so I think my ins. probably would have covered longer, if necessary.
My meds are no charge after $2000.00 deductible (which I reach after about Feb. 15th!). My ins. co. has me do mail order meds so I get 3 mos. worth at a time. They do not charge extra for name brand vs. generic & don’t try to force my np to prescribe cheaper stuff, but when my np prescribed Provigil they denied it (Provigil is FDA approved for narcolepsy but she had read the literature that Provigil was helpful for bipolar, esp. w/the side effects of sedation from meds & she sent the literature to the ins. co. & they reversed their decision & approved it! Been on it for at least 12 yrs. now & it is definitely very helpful & VERY EXPENSIVE so having ins. covering it is essential).
But there are other places that cover people w/no ins. & it seems to be word of mouth! At my support group I learned of a lady (40 yrs. old—no job currently so can’t afford ins.) & she told about a program at the local hospital that covers all her meds & therapy & pdoc appts.!! I had never heard of that program, but definitely took down all the info. to pass on to others. We also have in our state (not sure if it is a nation-wide program) where you call 211 (like 411 for emergencies) but they assist you w/housing, medical treatment, inadequate treatment at facilities—such as filing a grievance report, employment, housing, food, all the basics.
A friend in Calif. who had Kaiser (someone else mentioned that; I have tried very hard to avoid HMO’s due to knowing about Kaiser & their inefficient & inadequate treatment) & she not only had mental health issues , but she developed leukemia when she was about 40 yrs. old (3 kids). Since the type of leukemia she had was unusual in adults they refused to pay for a bone marrow transplant as they said it was “experimental” (as she was an adult vs. a child w/the same kind of leukemia) & that she had only a 10% chance of living after the bone marrow transplant so they DENIED paying for it. Essentially, saying “plan your funeral.” Well, it ended up Calif. (Medical) paid for her transplant & whole treatment at a great hospital (the one where my husband & I both were born & my first child who was a preemie).
Um, it’s been 25 YEARS now that she is cancer free.
When we were foster parents in Calif., the state paid for all medical care for the babies (we had infants going up for adoption) at excellent facilities & also paid for special formula one needed (pre-digested as she was a crack baby & had severe digestive problems).
Anyway, I have put up the link to the new Disability Handbook on other threads if you want to search for it. I’ve also found NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) & DBSA (Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance) can give helpful advice concerning low cost or free treatment.
Plus, I think next year is when they start parity in that ins. co. cannot limit mental health treatment (such as my 30 visits/yr. to a therapist). It is to be treated as equal to physical mental health care.
SORRY to go on so long & need to go so no time to proofread—hope it makes sense & not too many typos & errors.