SAMHSA condones discrimination

As a writer, my 2^nd 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 and North-OKC areas.  I gave her our website for the schedule and an explanation of each class.  She thanked me, put my card in her pocket and we resumed going over the forms with the title of Mental Health Evaluation. 

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 36^th 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.  Park my car and hand deliver the evaluation to determine if I would be given the approval to drive in the state with a license issued by the state.” It was confirmed. I was given a case number, my license information was put on hold for review and to have a nice day.  I pondered if my instructions were an oxymoron.

I took the forms to my Doctor’s office.  I also looked up the address for 36^th 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 1^st 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 to speak about my book, living with a mental illness.  I suspect the more things I want to do and am capable of doing, like anyone else, has the possibility to be denied.

Yes, it is time to contact my SAMHSA Protection and Advocacy Center located in my state.  But that is becoming a problem as well.  I read the 2011 SAMHSA self-evaluation of this division that goes by the acronym PAIMI.  SAMHSA does not like the PAIMI department they are responsible for.  Their evaluation documented that PAIMI did not know what they are doing.  It was confirmed they were also underfunded, a reason for its lack of perceived confidence.  It was obvious to me they want to rid themselves of what protected the people SAMHSA serves. I see the self-evaluation was self-incriminating.  By closing PAIMI, 36 million would be up for grabs or more than likely, a dollar amount hung like a carrot before the donkey that could be shaved from the budget without hurting the other divisions, especially the administrative department with a budget of 120 million.  Regardless of true motive, the casualty numbers from the loss of protection were within someone’s parameters.  I would estimate the casualty rate to be around 600 people per 2 million lives that equates to .03 % or .0003.    That’s an insignificant number that  hardly appear on a chart.  You are then able to state that discrimination is so insignificant, you can deny that discrimination against people with disabilities no longer exists.  You could tout that discrimination problems have been resolved, a job well done by SAMHSA.  The mandate of the ADA would go away. Around 60 offices around the nation would be vacated. 

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.

I feel something is going on that I have not received an e-mail on yet.  A miniscule 5 million dollars budget has been left under PAIMI.  Is it a reform budget to transition PAIMI out of SAMHSA and be placed elsewhere where discrimination is not accepted and does not allow for behavior that is considered morally wrong and found offensive to those who witnessed the discrimination.  I don’t have the answer today but I will receive the answer and will post it accordingly.