If everyone takes nothing else away from this thread, let them ake this as their mantra. gobear, bless your furry heart and consider yourself the recipient of a big sloppy kiss on behalf of everyone who sits through eight-and-a-half minutes of phone exposition to get to a question that shud have taken 15 seconds.
Isabelle
Because for most mental illnesses, unlike most physical illnesses or injuries, there is no “end point” after which treatment becomes unnecessary. A broken leg heals, the flu goes away. Mental illnesses are chronic. If insurance companies covered the treatment fully the dollars for treating other illnesses would evaporate and premiums would go through the roof. It’s not fair but that’s how insurance companies operate.
A LOT of physical ills are chronic. My mother, for example, has had chronic heart disease (also at least 5 heart attacks, two triple-bypasses, and a stroke) for going on 40 years now, with no cure and the end point of death. Diabetes is chronic. Arthritis - which can be crippling - is chronic. I’ve known several folks who have had organ transplants - which becomes a chronic medical maintenance issue. All of the above can be just as expensive as mental illness, some even more so, and all are covered by insurance.
Neglecting mental illness is not fair!. Truth is, a lot of the cost is because mental illnesses are allowed to progress to the point of requiring inpatient care. Frequently, limited inpatient care is all that is covered. It’s rather like not permitting diabetics to use insulin outside a hospital - now that would be messy, wouldn’t it?
Mental illness is neglected because there is still a stigma attached to it, and a lot of people don’t consider it a “real” illness. Attitudes are changing, but very slowly.
It’s true, you’re treated as everyone’s mildly retarded red-headed step-cousin even though the job requires intelligence, thinking on your feet, the skills of an air traffic controller and the patience of a saint.
I’ve worked my way into an admin job that actually pays a decent wage. But it still blows my mind when some little business school graduate waltzes in and acts like I’m the doormat. I usually get to watch his mind get blown when he finds out I make half again as much as he does (sometimes even more than that).
I’m the assistant to an executive level type person. Do Not Screw With The Bosses’ Secretary, She Can Hurt You. Given my position as an information exchange between employees I know more than most about what’s going on. Also, in my position I see a lot of confidential and high-level stuff. And no, I will not violate my bosses’ confidence in me by spilling the beans on anything confidential. But if I say “You know, now is not a good time for that question, wait until tomorrow after 3 pm” it might be a good idea to heed my advice. And remember, you have to go through me to talk to the Big Boys and Girls so be polite.
I find the higher in the hierarchy a person is, the more respect they have for receptionists and admins, as a general rule (there are always exceptions). Maybe it’s because their assistants make their travel arrangements and pick hotels and even order their lunches sometimes. If you’re depending on someone for travel, shelter and food you might want to be respectful (or maybe you’ll end up in the middle of a row of five airline seats with three connections instead of a direct flight, sleep in a crap hotel, and eat lousy)
And about returning calls and e-mails - hey, at my company we have a standing policy that if you’re out for even an afternoon both your voice mail and e-mail messages have to be set to something like “Hi! I’m not in the office right now, I’ll be back XXXX and I’ll respond to you then. If you need immediate help call YYYY” That’s a MINIMUM. In some case we actually have someone else screen your voice mails and e-mails so customers can be handled even when you’re gone to China for two weeks or whatever.
I have a chronic kidney disease and my insurance has covered everything I have ever had done (crosses fingers)
Also if I want to see a therapist I get 12 visits a year. No reason necessary. The copay is a little higher than a standard OV but I can go. If I need more than that I need my therapist to give me an extension.
I think one problem with people’s getting treatment is they don’t always know what is available or ask for help. Many clinics have a certain amount of ‘free care’ available or they will lower their payscale to what the insurance company would have paid them if you had insurance. Not free but not their original posted fee.
Also if you have insurance check your benefits! I’ve had a variety of health insurance plans over the years and they all covered the pill! The one I have now covers dental care for kids under 12. Also check with your state if you think something should be covered… sometimes it is by state law and the insurance companies just don’t like to advertise that fact.
Ok back to the receptionist thing… work in an office without voicemail and see how many confused people you get when they can’t get transferred to voicemail! The office I worked in preferred the ‘human touch’ and I lobbied the whole time I was there for them to get voicemail
And since you’re still here THEY didn’t have anything lethal, either. At least that they were going to share with you.
My wife does reception, too, and would wholeheartedly agree with the OP. One cow-orker was not showing her the respect she was due. She pointed out that, as it was she who passed the customers along to the real estate agents like him and as there were several other agents in the office who WERE nice to her, if he ever wanted to make another sale perhaps he should rethink his attitude.
I will reiterate what NotMrKnowItAll posted, and add something.
It’s not uncommon for e-mails to disappear into a cyberspace void. Maybe the gallery owners that you think you contacted didn’t actually get your e-mail. ISPs do screw up, you know, and home PCs can crash.
Send another e-mail. You don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot (and lose potential income) because you might have made the wrong assumption.
If you do start a business relationship with them, and they do indeed have really bad business techniques, then you’ll know that for sure right away and can cut out on them.
Insurance companies try to pay for the minimum care for chronic conditions. In my case, my carrier will pay part of medication and a very small amount for professional treatment. This is because:
They’re cheap
Since americans change jobs more fresquently than in the past, they’re hoping the disease gets critical AFTER you’ve moved on.
Seal’s wife is diabetic. They do help pay for the pills, but not nutrition counseling and monitoring.
I said I didn’t think it was fair how insurance companies handle mental illness treatment, didn’t I/ I worked for two of them and I’m just explaining why they handle mental illness as they do. Hell, in my state they wouldn’t cover mental illness at all if the state didn’t mandate some minimum coverage. And that’s only for group policies. Individual policies (not through an employer) excluded mental health coverage completely. The company I worked for also had exclusions for some chronic conditions or conditions which became chronic over time, so there was that level of parity. My personal favorite was the exclusion for illegal activities, which meant that we would not cover stays in detox facilities for minors (underage drinking is illegal) or suicide attempts using prescription medicines not belonging to the person (theft being illegal). We’d have excluded all drug treatment on the basis of illegality if we weren’t mandated to cover it.
Trust me, I know insurance companies suck. I’ve been in the belly of the beast so I know better than most how they suck.
