As a writer, my 2nd book continues to add
chapters due to the life I live. I don’t
have to go to one of the beautiful ponds in Edmond to ponder on what subject I should
write about. I can continue to live at
my residence, as the environment does not distract me. All I have to do is try to obtain a tag for
my Buick.
Stigma and discrimination run rampant. My situation is condoned by SAMHSA. You usually hear and read the word condone in a sentence where it is used
in the negative, “We don’t
condone the actions taken by Mr.
Smith to remove the hook of a 40# catfish using a chainsaw to…”. Used in the affirmative, the sentence would
read “ We accept and allow Mr. Smith’s behavior in how he used a
chainsaw to make the fish create a loud guttural sound with each cut, which is
considered morally wrong and offensive to other fishermen to continue.” In a shorter sentence, an example is
“We accept and allow behavior that is
considered morally wrong and found offensive to those who witnessed the event.
Cheese and
Crackers! All I wanted to do was to
drive my Buick with a legal license plate.
Since I had changed by residence and changed my Buick insurance to be
administered by my new state, I felt comfortable in obtaining a tag. There is a law that requires the owner of the
car to have a valid state drivers license.
An acquaintance told me where a “full service” office was located where
I could get a drivers license, have the car inspected and receive my tag where
I would not have to wait in line. I
drove to the neighboring city for convenience.
Upon arrival, since I am a new resident in the state I would need to be
entered in to the “system” before I can be helped. I drove to the location given me to be keyed
in the system. I had an additional cost
of fuel and loss of time, which was
insignificant to my budget.
I took my
number and proceeded to the waiting room.
My number was called a few minutes before noon, a break time for eating
lunch. My current license was entered in
the system. A form printed that was a
questioner. I filled out the paperwork,
which included, by Federal HIPAA law, protected health information. I circled mental illness and wrote my
diagnosis on the form. There was a
question that confirmed I was telling the truth with the answers given. I answered yes. As I continued to fill out the form, I
realized there was more to the question of telling the truth. It included the confirmation that it impaired my ability to drive. I drew a line through the word Yes,
initialized the removal of my answer and changed it to no.
The examiner
stated my answer made no difference since I had revealed my diagnosis. I was surprised with what happened next. The examiner went over to the big printer and
waited for pages to print. The length of
time was considerable. It gave time for
others to stare at me. I was fine with
that. I had written a book, Mott’s Mind,
which is my story living with a mental illness.
I was not about to lie since I wrote a book on the subject of the
disease. Finally, the printer started
shooting out paper. The examiner
apologized for the length of time to obtain the forms, presumably because
everyone in the room had a good look at
me. In vanity, I could possibly sell a
few books during the time it was taking to go through the mental illness
process. One of the questions was the
medications taken for my illness. I told
the examiner I had no problem stating medications and prescriptions for dosage
and the time of day to take the medication.
I said I was going to mingle the names between the generic and brand
name. She told me she was quite familiar
with psychotropic medications. I made a
remark about this being a common and usual task she performed. She replied saying no and justified it by
having a son with mental illness and the frustration she had with dealing with
his illness. I told her she was not
alone. I asked if she knew about NAMI
and the free educational classes they offered.
She had never
heard of it. I took out my billfold to give her my business card for being a
NAMI Volunteer. I pointed out the
contact information, the classes that were being held in the Edmond
She informed me
my doctor would have to fill out the forms and I was to hand deliver the
completed forms to their office at 36th and Martin Luther King. She said it would be best to go on a Wednesday,
the day of the week their doctor should be in the office. I restated what I thought she said. “I am
ordered to drive to their office in Oklahoma
City
I took the
forms to my Doctor’s office. I also
looked up the address for 36th and MLK. It is the Oklahoma Department of Public
Safety. It appeared red tape was in
progress, meaning it will take considerable time for the state to determine
what my outcome would be. My urgency was
to get a car tag before mine expired.
I received a
phone call from my doctor, who had never seen such papers as a mental health
evaluation, stating he felt uncomfortable filling out the forms and would refer
me to a mental health provider who was familiar with the evaluation and took
Medicare insurance to help keep my out of pocket expenses as low as
possible. It would take a few days to
find someone to do the evaluation. I
didn’t have the few days as we were getting close to my tag expiration
date. But my hands were tied.
I made the
decision to contact the deputy director of the Oklahoma Department of Mental
Health and the director of public relations.
I personally knew these gentlemen and felt they would be interested in
my situation. “They can’t do that” was
the reply from both men. They both went
in to action, contacting the department’s legal staff and others. I greatly appreciated their willingness to
help resolve the issue. They had made
contact with a person at the department of public safety, have contacted other
divisions as in Public Affairs and Legal.
I have an attorney with the department of mental health who has been
assigned to my case.
Since I am
still under the pressure of time, I finally got a referral for someone who
would do the mental health evaluation.
After speaking with this doctor, he was going to ask other professionals
to find a person who had done such an evaluation. I e-mailed the forms to him. He would get back with me. I told him of the timeframe I was under and he
understood my situation. A few more days
went by.
Being a
realistic person, the chances of having all of these contacts being able to
investigate my situation in under 30 days would be an extremely difficult task.
I received a
phone call from the referred doctor. No
one that he knew could see me before the 1st of May. Since he understood my situation, he agreed
to take my case. He has a contract with
Medicare. It was his belief the coinsurance
of 65% is still effective while I have given him documented proof, from Medicare,
that 2014 claims are being paid at 80/20, just like any other medical benefit. Regardless,
since he does not know me I gave him a $100 deposit. Since patients on disability with Medicare
are the most difficult to collect out of pocket from, his first priority is
being paid in full. I am secondary.
A full
evaluation is being performed on me, 2 hours of clinical time, 3 hours of
testing and an undetermined amount of time for compiling the results. I
anticipate my out of pocket expenses will be significant. Plus, he would rather have me pay by 2013
standards and he will refund the amount of overpayment. I’m not going to make a big deal about it as
I will receive a copy of the EOB and we will settle, hopefully before the end
of the year. However, I am giving
consideration to applying a huge rate of monthly interest on the amount I
overpaid. Sure, I’ll have to file it as
earned income on my 2014 taxes that any reasonable person would understand.
A word of
caution was given to me before today’s appointment. I was asked if I wanted to retake the MMPI
exam again as the results of such may be misleading. He then went in to details. I declined taking the test as I stated to him
my answers would be the same as the previous test taken. I have had ample time to write a response to
what he feels may be misleading as he knows me not.
I received a
phone call and e-mail from the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health stating they have made personal
contact with an individual within the Department of Public Safety. I was given the person’s contact information.
I made the
attempt to contact the person who is expecting my call. At the first dialing the phone was busy. I waited 30 minutes and dialed a second
time. It rang and rang followed by a
message that said “Goodbye” and the call was ended. I thought something must be wrong with their
telephone answering system and redialed.
Same scenario, it rang and rang followed with “Goodbye” and the call was
ended. I can only conclude there is
something wrong with the DPS today.
As I get ready
to post this document I wonder what abuse or neglect I have subjected myself to,
for being honest. There is a protection
and advocacy division within SAMHSA to keep people from being discriminated
against to ensure SAMHSA is performing its mission. It provides some of the funding for a state
mandated entity to making sure my disability rights have not been exploited or
as in my case, discriminated against.
I don’t have
the right to drive my car that is debt free, where I would be perfectly happy
to pay the personal property tax. I
don’t have the right to drive forward in my driveway, exposing a vehicle with
an expired tag. I don’t have the right
to vote or declare a party affiliation. I don’t have the right to become a
precinct committeeman, which I have been in the past. I don’t have the rights to obtain a fishing
license. I don’t have the right to
identify myself correctly when I go to get my prescription that includes a
controlled substance and when I go to a
branch of my bank that I have been a customer with since 1980. I don’t have the right to purchase legal substances
where the cash register wants my birthday, even though my appearance shows to
be 3 times the legal limit.
I have a flight
booked in my name, with the address of my residence to identify myself as the
airline has request. Ironically, I am going to North Carolina
Yes, it is time
to contact my SAMHSA Protection and Advocacy
Center ADA
The fact is
discrimination exists. I doubt many of
my peers have the resources to overcome the obstacles they are faced with. How many of my peers have a rainy day fund
where they can take $300 to pay up front costs for their discrimination
hurdles? How many of my peers become
victims rather than survivors?
Regardless of
count, SAMHSA wants to be in a position where the entity wants to accept and allow behavior that is considered
morally wrong and found offensive to those who witnessed the discrimination.
Tomorrow,
Thursday April 24, 2014, is the day Representative Tim Murphy [R-PA-18] reviews
his entire bill, H.R. 3717. with the entire Health subcommittee. I’ll have to look to see what channel it will
be on. This is a bill I have been
promoting as it is for the greater good for Helping Families in a Mental
Illness Crisis that need the help the most. It addresses
many of the issues I have personally witnessed that needs to be fixed, without
doubt or hesitation.
The mindset of
3717 is solid, Evidence Based Practices.
If there is something that works, show it to Rep. Murphy. If there is something you want to squash,
prove it doesn’t work. That’s exactly
what SAMHSA has been attempting to do. The 2011 self-evaluation was written in such a way
to show evidence PAIMI doesn’t work.
