[ozzy1313]

For starters there are only 2 IP places where I live, and I live in a pretty big metro area. In the past few months it has gotten so bad I have thought about the ER but I don't know what good that would do. I am not really a threat to myself and for sure not to others...I would love to just go to a rehab/IP place like the stars go to. I want a few weeks where I can get stable and get a grip on my life, but there are no places around here and even if there were I couldn't pay.

I have ins but we are a middle class family with not much left at the end of the month. A lot of you seem lucky to have a place to go if needed.

[Moogieotter]

Since you have Insurance, call them for your OOP costs. I had decent middle class insurance last time I did IP and it was $35 a day. Well worth it if you ask me.

Best of luck and keep posting.

moogs

[ozzy1313]

Originally Posted by Moogieotter

Since you have Insurance, call them for your OOP costs. I had decent middle class insurance last time I did IP and it was $35 a day. Well worth it if you ask me.

Best of luck and keep posting.

moogs

We have a $3500 deductable. Now that it's a new year I don't know how we will even pay for my therapy and pdoc. That will be at least $300/month

[Sunflower123]

I do have a great place to go to where I've been before. Since, however, my insurance has raised the OOP to $500 I've needed to go and haven't because I can't swing the $500 with all the other medical expenses I have.

[HALLIEBETH87]

I can't afford it that's why I have collections calling me. But I needed help IP! I had to weigh options. Death or debt?

[Justugh]

Originally Posted by ozzy1313

For starters there are only 2 IP places where I live, and I live in a pretty big metro area. In the past few months it has gotten so bad I have thought about the ER but I don't know what good that would do. I am not really a threat to myself and for sure not to others...I would love to just go to a rehab/IP place like the stars go to. I want a few weeks where I can get stable and get a grip on my life, but there are no places around here and even if there were I couldn't pay.

I have ins but we are a middle class family with not much left at the end of the month. A lot of you seem lucky to have a place to go if needed.

this is easy .........public mental health.........the laws changed a few years ago

aslong as u need it they have to let u in....and keep u until stable on meds then they can release u ( it is because of the crazies with guns )

medicaid this is how it works .......30 days paid by the federal government after the 30 days the state has to pick up the tap

checking into a IP is easier then making a Pb&J sandwich......walk in ...ask to sign yourself into the IP....do paperwork see the doctors talk to the doctors (say u want to kill yourself or others) and in the door u go (by law they have to take u in because if u leave and harm self or others they are legally on the hook)

[ozzy1313]

Originally Posted by Justugh

this is easy .........public mental health.........the laws changed a few years ago

aslong as u need it they have to let u in....and keep u until stable on meds then they can release u ( it is because of the crazies with guns )

medicaid this is how it works .......30 days paid by the federal government after the 30 days the state has to pick up the tap

checking into a IP is easier then making a Pb&J sandwich......walk in ...ask to sign yourself into the IP....do paperwork see the doctors talk to the doctors (say u want to kill yourself or others) and in the door u go (by law they have to take u in because if u leave and harm self or others they are legally on the hook)

I have insurance so that would be billed and I would still have the co-pay and deductible. I have not been in an emergency situation to go to the ER. I would just like a safe place to take a time out and get stable when needed.

[jacky8807]

If you are not a risk to yourself or others im not sure thy take you in
A private retreat would be awesome but only the stars can afford that!

[wildflowerchild25]

Originally Posted by HALLIEBETH87

I can't afford it that's why I have collections calling me. But I needed help IP! I had to weigh options. Death or debt?

Yup! I think I owe about $10,000 to various medical providers because of the last two years....and I haven't even received my ECT bill yet. But I didn't really have a choice. So I'll just continue to pay minimum payments when I can. Sucks but I have crappy insurance.

[Justugh]

ER and IP are the basically the same

u can go to the ER and see the doctor there and be referral up to the IP
or u go to intake tell them u want IP do the paperwork see the doctor and check yourself in

both in the hospital both open 24 hours a day ........if u go to the ER they will send u up if the beds up there are full u will be transported to the closest open bed place they can take u too

the intake they will tell u they are full and u will need to go to the next place yourself

if u want a retreat your best bet go into rehab .......they will pay for that and alot of the places now are like spas

[ozzy1313]

Was looking on-line and it seems Mayo Clinic has an awesome mood program. They have what I have been trying to describe. A two week full-day program with intensive therapy. I would imagine a program like that would give me so many skills. In college I participated in an outpatient program using cbt and it was great. Maybe something to look into if a new med change doesn't help.

[Gray Rider]

when I went I didn't have a choice lol
35k bill the state picked up the tab I was shocked

[~Christina]

I have to travel 90 miles to find the closest one and I don't like that place , Last IP was close to 120 miles away. ALL IP's around here require you to go through the/a ER and have a pdoc or more likely a crisis team member talk to you and determine if you are in need of IP , usually if your suicidal or a threat to others, it's a ticket to an IP stay. That's just the bare bones of IP. Lots of other factors are taken into consideration.

If someone is just flat in a struggle can't make any headway, just stuck, maybe dosen't really fit a IP stay in "safety concerns".That's really why PHP or IOP programs where started, allows people to get structured help for weeks to months, daily Group Therapy and staff there for any help, more often talks with Pdoc's about medications and or changes needed.

Thats just a basic overview of other help you can look into.

As for being able to pay for services , well sometimes there is just no choice if you need help you need help. I know someone that had a high high deductable , She made 2 trips to the ER in a months time for "physical problems", That showed she had passed her deductable on paper.. ( Er visit charges are insane)

Yes she will probably always be paying small amounts every single month for the ER visits, but it allowed her to be able to go into a IOP/PHP and get the help she really really needed.

Mental health is just as important to treat as is a physical illness..If you broke your arm or leg , you would have no choice but to just go be seen and treated . Mental health is really the same, you do have to often just put your mental health and physical health first and worry about the bills later.

[Trippin2.0]

I can afford treatment because its free. I make use of state facilities, so as long as I don't have insurance or a proper income they can't bill me.


I'm at a retreat type place right now actually. My former T suggested it and got me into the program.... Individual T, group T, hydro T, physio T, life skills and communications T, yoga, PT etc etc... Here's also a GP who makes sure we're physically ok and handles any problems that may arise, including med issues.


Which reminds me, I'm so glad they're really not pill pushers, ( I wasn't sure) nobody is forcing me to be medicated, however its open for discussion.

Also they're signing me up for this year's DBT program which is awesome.


Uh, sorry, didn't mean to ramble, just wanted to say I can only afford it because I can't. Government pays for health care over here.

[unlived]

It's free where I am too

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[ozzy1313]

Originally Posted by Trippin2.0

I can afford treatment because its free. I make use of state facilities, so as long as I don't have insurance or a proper income they can't bill me.


I'm at a retreat type place right now actually. My former T suggested it and got me into the program.... Individual T, group T, hydro T, physio T, life skills and communications T, yoga, PT etc etc... Here's also a GP who makes sure we're physically ok and handles any problems that may arise, including med issues.


Which reminds me, I'm so glad they're really not pill pushers, ( I wasn't sure) nobody is forcing me to be medicated, however its open for discussion.

Also they're signing me up for this year's DBT program which is awesome.


Uh, sorry, didn't mean to ramble, just wanted to say I can only afford it because I can't. Government pays for health care over here.

Well, now I want to move to Cape Town!

I have insurance and pay the 15% that my insurance doesn't cover out in small monthly installments of $50. They have been really cooperative that way. It may take years to pay off the balance that way, but I feel right that I'm paying my portion of the bill, and they seems satisfied that I have committed to that effort. $50 doesn't break my budget and they take it out automatically, so I don't have to think about it much.

[BipolaRNurse]

Luckily for me, the county paid for my IP stay. I don't have insurance and I can't afford Obama Care, so I got this benefit because I'm low income and not yet on Medicaid. Now I'll be going on a program that will give me my medication for free or at a very reduced price.

[Wander]

I have private health insurance which fully covers my IP stays in a Private psych hospital. I pay around $150 a month for the insurance. It has been a godsend as the costs of my treatment over the last five years has been around $200 000!! I chose this over the public system, which is free, as I get much better treatment in the private system...and the food is better

[ozzy1313]

Originally Posted by Wander

I have private health insurance which fully covers my IP stays in a Private psych hospital. I pay around $150 a month for the insurance. It has been a godsend as the costs of my treatment over the last five years has been around $200 000!! I chose this over the public system, which is free, as I get much better treatment in the private system...and the food is better

USA sucks so much with health care!

[Wander]

Originally Posted by ozzy1313

USA sucks so much with health care!

Yeh, I really feel for my friends in the USA. In Australia there is also no pressure to be discharged asap.It is totally up to the doctors discretion and not the insurance company. This takes a lot of stress off me as I know I can stay as long as needed. Still there are many in Aus that cannot affort Private Health Insurance and have to wait ages to get any psychiatric help. I am on a low income but I always make sure my insurance is paid up.

Lol. I was just hospitalized and now my insurance company wants to fight every charge! High priced insurance with total denial. I'm going into the hole because I'm a defective....like its stopped me before, lol

[unlived]

Originally Posted by Wander

Yeh, I really feel for my friends in the USA. In Australia there is also no pressure to be discharged asap.It is totally up to the doctors discretion and not the insurance company. This takes a lot of stress off me as I know I can stay as long as needed. Still there are many in Aus that cannot affort Private Health Insurance and have to wait ages to get any psychiatric help. I am on a low income but I always make sure my insurance is paid up.

They don't have to wait for emergency care though. They just front up at the hospital and get admitted if needed and stay as long as needed and then are discharged with medication and often with referral to a psychiatrist

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Im lucky, although on a low income I make sure my insurance is paid up and go down the private road too. Although I discharge myself as soon as I am safe, sometimes before I am safe. My bills have been around 40,000 a stay and I have been in more than a dozen times. Only thing I have to pay is for meds and tv, Im usually out of pocket around 500.

If I go the public road that is free (except for meds) but that is not helpful.

[Wander]

Originally Posted by unlived

They don't have to wait for emergency care though. They just front up at the hospital and get admitted if needed and stay as long as needed and then are discharged with medication and often with referral to a psychiatrist

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That is true. If a person in danger of hurting themselves or others they are (usually) admitted immediately but there is bed shortages which means desperate people can be turned away at times, or discharged too early. Many suicides have been documented to be preventable if only the public system worked better. Then there is the long waits to see a psychiatrist and it is much more difficult to shop around and find one who suits you, or is at least helpful. Saying that I have never been turned away from a public hospital when suicidal (this happened about three times and 5 times after an overdose) but I did have to wait in emergency for two days, under close watch before a locked ward bed was available.