The Carter Burden Network raised more than $1 million last month at its annual gala at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Manhattan. Proceeds from the event will go towards programming that benefits seniors across New York City. U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand made a guest appearance via video link to congratulate Board Chairman Jeffrey Weber, who is also chairman of Gillibrand’s working group on aging and received recognition for his contributions to the 46-year-old nonprofit. Also in attendance were Donna Corrado, commissioner of the New York City Department for the Aging, and Corrado’s deputy Caryn Resnick.
A new study details the obstacles that Long Island residents face when pursuing treatment for substance abuse and other mental health ailments. Nearly 40 percent of the approximately 650 people who took part in the study said that affordability was a barrier to receiving treatment, while a quarter of respondents could not locate a provider who accepted their insurance. The report calls on the New York State Department of Financial Services to further investigate whether commercial insurance providers in Long Island are complying with mandated mental health standards.
Catholic Charities Community Services of Orange and Sullivan leveraged a “Christmas explosion” of holiday decorations to raise $25,000 for needy families and individuals. A house tour through the village of Goshen took 500 people through seven different houses that were “decorated to the hilt” with holiday decor, said Kristin Jensen, chief advancement officer for the organization. She added that the event has steadily grown each year by about 100 new participants since it began three years ago.
Amida Care and Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation hosted a free community fitness class on Dec. 11 that shows what a little pre-planning can accomplish. The event – and another to be held early next year – was funded through a $5,000 grant sponsored by New York City Councilman Robert Cornegy as part of the city’s Expense Budget process. The next fiscal year will not begin for more than six months, but the submission period for fiscal year 2019 is coming up, judging by the Jan 3. opening date earlier this year. A full list of projects funded this year through the Expense Budget process can be seen here.
An item in the Dec. 12 NYN Media Buzz about a new study from the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York City included an incorrect link. The study can be viewed here.
It’s a heartbreaking scenario that is far too common: Someone makes the difficult decision to seek out professional help for a mental health or substance abuse problem for themselves or their loved one and is faced with a myriad of roadblocks. They start calling providers on their insurance plan and find that they are not taking new patients, or they no longer accept insurance. And the cost of paying out of pocket is too much for many to afford.
The result: It takes people weeks if not months to find help—or worse, they give up entirely.
At North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center, we’ve heard these stories over and over again. It’s a crisis situation that could have life-threatening consequences, especially during these times when opioid addiction is at epidemic proportions.
“We’ve always believed that part of our role is to advocate for patients’ rights,” says Andrew Malekoff, Executive Director of North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center. “To accomplish the change that is needed, we knew we had to define the problem in a way that those in power can understand—and can’t ignore.”
The Guidance Center joined with researchers to create Project Access,a year-long research study that examined the difficulty in finding timely, quality and affordable mental health and addictions care. (Click here to read the report.)Project Access compiles the data necessary for legislators to use as evidence to show that there has been an egregious error in accessing adequate mental health care.
“Even though the government is legally bound to have adequate networks of care, Project Access shows that they fall far short of that mandate,” says Malekoff. “It’s incumbent upon all of us to advocate for change. People’s lives are at stake.”
Exacerbating the problem of individuals finding appropriate providers for mental health and addictions care is stigma and the shame it generates, notes Malekoff. “If someone’s child has cancer, they won’t hesitate to call the doctor, but because of the stigma surrounding mental health, it makes it very difficult for them to reach out. Once they make the call, the support needs to be there.”
So, what can you do to make a difference? Contact your local, state and federal politicians and tell them to call on the New York State Department of Financial Services to launch a thorough investigation of this issue. Send them the link to the Project Access report, and share your stories of how difficult it was to get mental health or addictions care for your loved ones.
Be an advocate for children, individuals and families who desperately need care. We need you to stand up with us.
Janet Susin spoke at the press conference about the struggles her son had faced after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. (Photo courtesy of North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center)
Janet Susin said during her family’s first visit to the emergency room after her 16-year-old son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, the hospital staff had only one concern.
“The first question we heard wasn’t, ‘how’s he doing?’ It was, ‘do you have insurance?’” Susin said.
Susin was among a group of concerned relatives, public officials and caregivers at a press conference held Monday by the North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center to discuss the results of a year-long study titled Project Access that examined the ease or difficulty with which patients and their family have accessing mental health and substance abuse care, especially through insurance providers.
North Shore Child Guidance Executive Director Andrew Malekoff said that as part of the study, a 41-question survey was completed by 644 people who answered questions about demographics and experiences as well as an open-ended question for personal stories about the process.
Malekoff said fewer providers accept commercial health insurance plans because their rates of reimbursement are often lower than Medicare rates.
According to Project Access results, almost half the participants said it was more difficult to find help for mental health or substance abuse problems than care for physical ailments, 40 percent said their insurance providers did not have an adequate number of providers, and two-thirds said their insurance company was not helpful in finding a mental health care provider.
State senators Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach) and Elaine Phillips (R-Flower Hill) provided a bipartisan front from the state Legislature, both sharing stories of family members who suffered from mental health issues and struggled to receive help.
“The founder of the Nassau-Queens National Alliance on Mental Illness chapter was my cousin Arnold Gould, who passed away last year,” Kaminsky said. “He devoted his life to this issue, and for a long time, Arnold had a son who was the cousin in my family no one talked about or knew existed. We have to turn the page on that. We can do better.”
Kaminsky and Phillips both said they would write letters to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Department of Financial Services with the Project Access data and their concerns about the issue.
“I am extremely proud to be supporting Project Access and to be supporting the mental health industry because it is going to take research like this when we do write the governor and the New York State Department of Financial Services,” Phillips said. “We have data behind it to say this isn’t happening in low socio-economic areas of one part of the state; this is a rampant problem that is happening throughout New York and especially here on Long Island.”
Phillips also said if needed, she would support legislation to make mental health care more accessible and affordable across New York.
North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center partnered with LIU Post for the research, and social work professor Elissa Giffords said the school received approval from their institutional review board before administering the survey to human subjects and placed surveys in waiting rooms and posted flyers with a link to the survey as well.
“People who completed the survey, it’s likely they already accessed care,” Giffords said. “This is quite important, particularly because although they could access treatment, they still reported impediments when seeking this care. This also means there’s a distinct possibility there are many people who gave up seeking care altogether.”
Susin, a past president of the Nassau-Queens chapter of National Alliance on Mental Illness, was a teacher, and her husband was a doctor at North Shore Hospital during that hospital visit 30 years ago, and she quickly learned that while her policy had $1 million worth of mental health coverage, her husband’s only offered $40,000 for the family for life.
Soon after their visit, her son, now 47, was prescribed an anti-psychotic medication and has not been in the hospital since thanks to the care of an excellent psychiatrist — a psychiatrist who charges $250 per visit and does not take insurance, Susin said.
Susin said while their psychiatrist was willing to try working with her insurance company, the agreement ended less than a year later because the psychiatrist believed the rates were too low and receiving payments from the insurers was a hassle.
Susin said she has paid out of pocket ever since.
“We’re lucky we can afford to pay for good care for our son and as a result, he’s remained stable all these years,” she said. “Every person struggling with a psychotic disorder or any mental health condition should have the same opportunity.”
Social worker Kerry Eller also spoke about the struggles of her teenage sister, who has dealt with mental health and substance abuse issues since she was 11.
Her mother was a single parent, trying to manage two younger boys while fighting to get her daughter the care she needed. Eller said her mother often blamed herself, asking if she caused these problems for her daughter and whether she was enough of a mother to care for her children.
“When anyone in my family had some kind of physical ailment, there were no issues getting care,” Eller said. “When I needed my tonsils removed, I wasn’t directed to multiple doctors just to find one that was one willing to provide me with the medically necessary treatment that my condition required. There is such a sigma related to psychiatric and substance abuse related disorders, which makes it scary to reach out in the first place.
“When you finally build up enough courage to reach out for help, and then your efforts are thwarted, it feels defeating.”
Family members share stories about difficulty accessing mental health and addictions care as results of year-long study are detailed at press conference
Roslyn Heights, NY, December 11, 2017 — If you’ve tried to get help for a family member or loved one who was struggling with mental health or chemical dependency issues and had trouble finding a provider who takes your insurance, you are not alone.
Today, North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center (also known as the Guidance Center) released the results of Project Access, a year-long study in which approximately 650 Long Islanders were surveyed about their experiences and frustrations in trying to obtain help. The results were announced at a press conference at the Guidance Center’s Roslyn Heights headquarters on Monday, December 11.
“This report verifies what we have long known: Insurance companies and the government are not living up to their responsibility to provide people with quality, affordable and timely mental health and addictions care,” said Andrew Malekoff, Executive Director of the Guidance Center. “Even though they are legally bound to have adequate networks of care, they fall far short of that mandate.”
A few key findings:
Almost half of the participants said that it was more difficult finding help for mental health or substance abuse problems than finding help for physical illnesses, especially when they were in crisis.
Nearly 40% said that their insurance company did not have an adequate number of providers.
Two thirds told us that their insurance company was not helpful to them in finding a suitable provider for themselves or a loved one.
Almost 40% of participants reported that stigma and affordability were impediments to seeking care.
And, almost 25% of participants reported that they felt their attempts at accessing care were futile.
The problem of access is often complicated by a family’s reluctance to seek help for a mental health or drug problem, as opposed to physical illnesses like cancer or diabetes. Despite progress, stigma still looms large.
Kerry Eller spoke of the difficulty in finding treatment for her family member who has mental health and chemical addictions issues. “When my sister’s condition began to worsen, it put our entire family into crisis,” said Eller. “We knew she needed professional help to get her through this incredibly difficult time. It was extremely challenging to access appropriate treatment for my sister. The insurance company was not helpful with connecting us to in-network providers; they would give us referrals but when we would call, we would often find out that they no longer participated with our plan. It was exhausting and heart breaking to have to endure one failed call after another.”
Janet Susin, the President of Queens/Nassau NAMI, spoke of the trouble she faced getting her son care for schizophrenia. “At our first visit to the ER, their first question wasn’t ‘How is he doing’ but rather ‘Do you have insurance that covers mental health care?’ The reality is that there are not enough psychiatrists, particularly child psychiatrists, and very few are willing to take insurance.We need to do something to rectify that situation.”
State Senator Todd Kaminsky, who also spoke at the press conference, said, “The Project Access report is a damning indictment of where we are with mental health and addictions care in our state today… We’re not in the 19th or even 20th century. We have to do better!”
State Senator Elaine Phillips told the audience, “With Project Access, we now have the data when we write to our government and state agencies. We need to demand change so people get the support they deserve!”
For her part, Rebecca Sanin, President/CEO of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, spoke of the great disparity in obtaining mental health care as opposed to care for physical illnesses. “Imagine if cancer patients faced delays and inadequate coverage; we would be up in arms as a region,” she said. “Project Access shows that two-thirds of respondents said insurance companieswere not helpful and that it required multiple calls and contacts to access care. This is unconscionable. When a person is in crisis, the window to engage in treatment is small, and it may never open again if they are turned away.”
“We are calling on the New York State Department of Financial Services to launch a thorough investigation of this issue,” said Malekoff. “It’s incumbent upon all of us to advocate for change. Access delayed is access denied. People’s lives are at stake.”
The study is supported by the Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund of the Long Island Community Foundation.
Roslyn Heights, NY, November 27, 2017 — It’s a scenario that is far too common: Someone makes the difficult decision to seek out professional help for a mental health problem for themselves or their loved one and is faced with a myriad of roadblocks, including a lack of providers who take their insurance and demand cash only—or even if they find a therapist in their plan, the provider has an enormously long waiting list or is not accepting new clients at all.
North Shore Child & Family Guidance Center (also known as the Guidance Center) led an effort to assess these problems with Project Access, in which approximately 650 Long Islanders were surveyed about their experiences in trying to obtain help. The results will be announced at a press conference at the Guidance Center’s Roslyn Heights headquarters on Monday, December 11 at 10 a.m.
Expected to be speaking are New York State Senators Elaine Phillips and Todd Kaminsky; Janet Susin, Past President of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Queens/Nassau; and Rebecca Sanin, President of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island.
“This report verifies what we have long known: Insurance companies and the government are not living up to their responsibility to provide people with quality, affordable and timely mental health and addictions care,” says Andrew Malekoff, Executive Director of the Guidance Center. “Even though they are legally bound to have adequate networks of care, they fall far short of that mandate. It’s incumbent upon all of us to advocate for change. Access delayed is access denied. People’s lives are at stake.”
A few key findings:
Almost 50% of respondents indicated that it was more difficult finding help for mental health or substance abuse/addiction problems than finding help for physical illnesses, particularly when they were in crisis.
Nearly 40% of respondents said that their insurance company did not have an adequate number of providers.
Exacerbating the problem of individuals finding appropriate providers for mental health and addictions care is stigma and the shame it generates, notes Malekoff. “If someone’s child has cancer, they won’t hesitate to call the doctor, but because of the stigma surrounding mental health, it makes it very difficult for them to reach out. Clearly, as this study reveals, despite any
progress made in eradicating stigma, we still have a long way to go with respect to public education and mental health awareness.”
The aim of Project Access is to raise public consciousness, stimulate interaction among stakeholders and motivate New York State, through the Department of Financial Services, to carry out a thorough investigation of commercial health insurers with respect to access to care.
After reviewing the research, Project Access committee member Dr. Ilene Nathanson, Chair of the Social Work Department at LIU Post, concluded, “If the definition of insurance is protection then the gross inadequacies of our insurance system are laid bare in this study. Delays, unaffordability, outright inaccessibility – all courageously endured by human beings in need of mental health care. It is time that the insurance industry stepped up to the task of protecting.”
The study is supported by the Long Island Unitarian Universalist Fund of the Long Island Community Foundation.
For previews of the research prior to the press conference, contact Andrew Malekoff at amalekoff@northshorechildguidance.org.
