Susan Harrington related the painful details of the death of her son Barrett at the recent press conference in Albany. Barrett was diagnosed with a serious mental illness during a recent incarceration at Riker’s Island for drug-dependent related crimes. He was released from Riker’s without a comprehensive treatment plan for his mental health needs, save for a three-day supply of antipsychotic medications. Barrett, because he did not have Medicaid eligibility, applied for Medicaid benefits after his release and had to endure long waits in hospital emergency rooms and pharmacies just to renew a five-day supply of medication. Despite these limited measures, his mental health deteriorated and he attempted suicide. He was admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit only at his mother’s insistence and was discharged two weeks later without a comprehensive treatment plan. Left without necessary supports and services, he returned to drug use. He committed suicide shortly afterward at age 24. Five days after his suicide, Mrs. Harrington was notified that her son’s Medicaid application had been approved.
Ms. Harrington called for the passage of legislation to provide for 90 days of presumptive Medicaid eligibility for individuals leaving hospitals and correctional facilities. "I believe my son’s tragic death might well have been avoided had he been able to get the help he so badly needed and sought repeatedly," she said. "State government must act quickly to allow people stuck in the revolving door of the mental heath and correctional systems to promptly get the medication and services they need when returning to the community."
Ms. Harrington was joined by a large coalition of mental health advocates supporting reform. Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility will go beyond the Medication Grant program included in "Kendra’s Law" by providing access to all psychiatric services including medication, housing, comprehensive case management, day treatment and intensive rehabilitation programs. An individual will be able to receive services under Medicaid while an eligibility determination is being made—a process that routinely takes 60 to 90 days.
"A Medication Grants program with limited benefits and no guarantee that it will be available in each community of the state makes no sense from either a clinical or government efficiency standpoint," according to Susan Batkin, Director of the Mental Health Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City, and coordinator for the Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility Coalition. "The existing Medicaid program is already available in all parts of the State, and adding additional state bureaucrats and hiring benefits managers to administer this new system merely diverts resources away from the patient into administration."
Harvey Rosenthal, Executive Director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS), and chair of the Mental Health Action Network, added, "People in crisis need much more than just a pill. Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility will instead offer access to the full range of Medicaid-funded housing, treatment and support services we know are necessary to fully restore these persons to productive community life."
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Mother of Suicide Victim Speaks Out
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Mother of Suicide Victim Speaks Out
Susan Harrington related the painful details of the death of her son Barrett at the recent press conference in Albany. Barrett was diagnosed with a serious mental illness during a recent incarceration at Riker’s Island for drug-dependent related crimes. He was released from Riker’s without a comprehensive treatment plan for his mental health needs, save for a three-day supply of antipsychotic medications. Barrett, because he did not have Medicaid eligibility, applied for Medicaid benefits after his release and had to endure long waits in hospital emergency rooms and pharmacies just to renew a five-day supply of medication. Despite these limited measures, his mental health deteriorated and he attempted suicide. He was admitted to a psychiatric inpatient unit only at his mother’s insistence and was discharged two weeks later without a comprehensive treatment plan. Left without necessary supports and services, he returned to drug use. He committed suicide shortly afterward at age 24. Five days after his suicide, Mrs. Harrington was notified that her son’s Medicaid application had been approved.
Ms. Harrington called for the passage of legislation to provide for 90 days of presumptive Medicaid eligibility for individuals leaving hospitals and correctional facilities. "I believe my son’s tragic death might well have been avoided had he been able to get the help he so badly needed and sought repeatedly," she said. "State government must act quickly to allow people stuck in the revolving door of the mental heath and correctional systems to promptly get the medication and services they need when returning to the community."
Ms. Harrington was joined by a large coalition of mental health advocates supporting reform. Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility will go beyond the Medication Grant program included in "Kendra’s Law" by providing access to all psychiatric services including medication, housing, comprehensive case management, day treatment and intensive rehabilitation programs. An individual will be able to receive services under Medicaid while an eligibility determination is being made—a process that routinely takes 60 to 90 days.
"A Medication Grants program with limited benefits and no guarantee that it will be available in each community of the state makes no sense from either a clinical or government efficiency standpoint," according to Susan Batkin, Director of the Mental Health Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City, and coordinator for the Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility Coalition. "The existing Medicaid program is already available in all parts of the State, and adding additional state bureaucrats and hiring benefits managers to administer this new system merely diverts resources away from the patient into administration."
Harvey Rosenthal, Executive Director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS), and chair of the Mental Health Action Network, added, "People in crisis need much more than just a pill. Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility will instead offer access to the full range of Medicaid-funded housing, treatment and support services we know are necessary to fully restore these persons to productive community life."
Ms. Harrington called for the passage of legislation to provide for 90 days of presumptive Medicaid eligibility for individuals leaving hospitals and correctional facilities. "I believe my son’s tragic death might well have been avoided had he been able to get the help he so badly needed and sought repeatedly," she said. "State government must act quickly to allow people stuck in the revolving door of the mental heath and correctional systems to promptly get the medication and services they need when returning to the community."
Ms. Harrington was joined by a large coalition of mental health advocates supporting reform. Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility will go beyond the Medication Grant program included in "Kendra’s Law" by providing access to all psychiatric services including medication, housing, comprehensive case management, day treatment and intensive rehabilitation programs. An individual will be able to receive services under Medicaid while an eligibility determination is being made—a process that routinely takes 60 to 90 days.
"A Medication Grants program with limited benefits and no guarantee that it will be available in each community of the state makes no sense from either a clinical or government efficiency standpoint," according to Susan Batkin, Director of the Mental Health Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York City, and coordinator for the Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility Coalition. "The existing Medicaid program is already available in all parts of the State, and adding additional state bureaucrats and hiring benefits managers to administer this new system merely diverts resources away from the patient into administration."
Harvey Rosenthal, Executive Director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS), and chair of the Mental Health Action Network, added, "People in crisis need much more than just a pill. Presumptive Medicaid Eligibility will instead offer access to the full range of Medicaid-funded housing, treatment and support services we know are necessary to fully restore these persons to productive community life."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment