The last leg of my "finding a provider" journey... for now

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/21148286

I was kicked off Medicaid at the start of this year and subsequently lost access to my ADHD and depression medication. In February, I moved to a new area and got a new job, but had to wait several months until I qualified for health insurance through it.

After that point, I had to wait for a weekday when I wasn't working and when I had the mental capacity to tolerate back-to-back disappointing phone calls... all without medication that would make the process significantly easier to tolerate. These are only the calls I've made today.

Finally, FINALLY, I have an intake appointment scheduled.

It's absolutely shameful how much a struggling person is expected to do in order to access basic mental health care.

ADHDmemes @lemmy.world

Whats_your_reasoning @lemmy.world

4mo ago

The last leg of my "finding a provider" journey... for now

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actually impressive you did all that in an hour. I would not have the patience.
- I began and gave up this process several times in the past few months. Ngl, I was close to crying at a few points during this phone chain. But you know what spurred me this time? Thinking about how much money I pay for health insurance, knowing that some company was raking money off my every paycheck regardless of if I got care or not. That resentment gave me the push to keep dialing.
  
  I want a wood burned sign that says, "Spite can motivate where kindness cannot."

It really does feel like the system itself is designed to set up those of us with psychological disorders (and neurological conditions) for failure. My mental health provider that I must use, because they’re the only ones around, has this “just in time” system where they will only schedule appointments one week prior to when the appointment is supposed to be. So instead of just making an appointment for say October 30, you have to wait until October 23rd, call in, try to get set up for the following week (if available) and then you get a confirmed date. Also, if you miss an appointment and don’t make a new one within a week they will discharge after another 7 days. That’s crazy, these patients have disorders that absolutely cause them to miss appointments and completely avoid them in some cases.
To be blunt, the entire mental healthcare system is totally fucked in the US. I don’t get worked up over anything ever really, but this shit pisses me off.
On a positive note, congratulations on getting setup for treatment again! It really is a feat of fortitude in this country and you got it done!
- So instead of just making an appointment for say October 30, you have to wait until October 23rd, call in, try to get set up for the following week (if available) and then you get a confirmed date. Also, if you miss an appointment and don’t make a new one within a week they will discharge after another 7 days.
  Holy crap, that's downright sadistic. That's like putting the physical rehab center on the top floor of a multistory building that only has stairs.

Awestruck seeing all those calls in a one hour interval. It would have been at least 2 weeks for me. Making one phone call requires a full day of pre-call preparation and after-call recovery.

It's been a few years since I was in the US but can't a family doctor/gp write scrips for you once you've gotten the physche eval? When I last lived there getting a scrip written and filled every month felt like a task designed to make people with ADHD fall off medication first time they slipped up but I could usually get the scrip written by my gp.
Also, not to make yall jealous but I moved to Canada and HOLY FUCK it's awesome. I get my meds filled in batches of 90 with a phone appointment (no going into the office), it gets faxed directly to my pharmacy (no losing the fucking paper) and because I am out of country my last fill from my gp was a 180 day supply. I feel like a fucking human who is actually supported by society.
- Changing insurance and moving locations means I haven't got a PCP either. That's another chain of phone calls I still have to do. 😐
  
  Oh, I'm sorry, that's such a shitty process to go through (it's even shitty up in Canada). I've usually been able to luck my way into one... there's a hilarious loophole up here where if you lack a gp and see the same doctor in a walk-in clinic enough times you can force them to be your gp whether they're accepting new patients or not. I accidentally did that when I first moved to Canada because my BCBS VT insurance only had a single doctor in network in Vancouver.
- Paper? What backwards ass pharmacy did you go to in the US that they didn't send prescriptions via the internet?
  
  Well, it was Vermont, and this was more than a decade ago.
  (Does hard math)
  It's been about fourteen years since I lived in America I think?

hides the inner pain in American

Yeah, this is why I'm sticking with my current psych despite having difficulty communicating with them. :/
Getting in to see a new psych in this fucking country is hell.

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