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I really thought I had made it! I grew up in a working class neighborhood in Southeast Portland. We lived modestly, frugally, and my parents managed to prepare three kids for good educations (two at ivy league colleges) on an income of under $13,000 per year.
I was fortunate to have a lucrative career in technology. I put a lot of money away in retirement savings, and was able to retire very early, with enough in the bank to generate a retirement income that would continue to buy an income of over $100K per year. What I felt to be upper middle class for sure.

Then, disaster struck. My son became severely mentally ill, and my daughter is also suffering from milder form of mental illness. Even though my son managed to win a contentious disability claim, I now am facing the possibility of having to pay over $2,500 per month in health insurance premiums, prescription costs, and copays. As a result, even though I have significant assets earmarked for retirement. The safety net for families is severely broken. Government decisions relative to disability assistance, medical care, and the continued protection of profits in the medical and pharmaceutical industries have led to a personal loss of economic security for my family.

The hope for recovery by my children may well be at the cost of my own retirement security and health.

Dave

posted 5 years, 1 month ago
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Barriers to health care will not be removed until the process for all of us, regardless of income, have simplified access to health care. I currently spend about 3-4 hours per week negotiating the difficult world of both public and private health insurance programs. To expect people with cognitive disablities to manage the fragmented process (as it currently exists) is not realistic. Dr. Carlson correctly points out that the administrative costs in the private insurance world is very high. Much of that expense is designed to find reasons (legitimate or not) to deny claims, and hope that patients will give up and pay out of pocket. This is how insurance executives earn their bonuses.

As important as having insurance to pay for care is access to quality providers (especially in the field of mental health). Even with insurance coverage (private, Medicaid, or both) many providers opt to refuse to take any insurance coverage. They take cash customers only - because they can. Finding a psychiatrist or social worker in Portland that takes insurance is not easy. Finding one that takes Medicaid is nearly impossible. Mentally ill patients on Medicaid are sent to quasi-public clinics that are over-crowded and (though well-intentioned) can not provide quality care that can lead to recovery.

Dave

posted 5 years, 4 months ago
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