I don't think anyone says it better than Ed- He adds an element that I did not, reminding us that we need to take care of the mentally ill in our country. At the library we see the mentally ill in our building each day-- it is concerning to know that there are so many people who are left to their own devices who are simply incapable of taking care of themselves and often a danger, left to walk the streets. It's difficult to talk about what to do about the mentally ill-- I lived across the street from a halfway house for several years which seemed a better alternative than homelessness. But what is the alternative if we are not willing to admit that there are certain people who cannot take care of themselves and are a danger to themselves and others?
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Unfortunately our current health care system is not up to the task of dealing with the mentally ill. I've heard terrible stories of people trying to get help for their kids but sometimes insurance - if you have it - doesn't cover the costs, or they cover for a very limited time, not enough time to get the person the help they need. And if you don't have insurance...good luck! Mental health care is expensive - weekly sessions with a counselor can run up to $130 never mind the cost of any medication, if necessary, and a hospital stay, I'm sure, would be out of this world. I feel so sorry for the parents of the man who killed those people.
I'm afraid there is a lot our new health care system leaves uncovered. My daughter has asthma and her employer was able to drop her insurance even with the new laws. She would have been without insurance. The only thing that saved her was that under the new regulations her dad was able to add her to their family plan without any extra cost. If I had added her to mine (I don't have a family plan- I single adult) it would have cots $100 to add her. A lot but at least now we could add her. A year ago we could not had put her on!
You are absolutely right about the cost of Mental Health care. Unless your kid has medicaid! Foster kids and adopted kids through Social services get a LITTLE better coverage than the rest of us. Bus only a little! We still don't want to acknowledge that perhaps they need special homes and long term treatment.
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