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Anna has been diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). OCD is a mental health disorder that occurs when a person gets caught in a cycle of unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or urges that trigger intensely distressing feelings. Then a person engages in compulsions to attempt to get rid of the obsession and decrease the distress.
Anna has been in varying levels of intensive services with Rogers Behavioral Health since April 30, 2018. Currently, Anna is living at the Child and Adolescent Center for OCD and Anxiety (CAC). Anna’s OCD is severe with comorbidities which makes it a complex treatment that is not linear.
Intensive treatment was needed in order to provide Anna with the frequency for OCD therapy due to the severity of her disorder. The most important strategy in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for OCD is called “Exposure and Response Prevention” (ERP). “Exposure” refers to confronting the thoughts, images, objects and situations that make Anna anxious and start her obsessions. She then has to make a choice not to do the compulsive behavior and not give in while she notices a drop in her anxiety, which is called habituation. All of this is critical to be done under the guidance of a therapist and is difficult and takes time.
We have been fighting this battle for a year with lack of services provided by our insurance company of properly trained and available therapy in network and discharge from intensive services prior to clinical documentation that she is ready for discharge. This is in direct violation of federal and state parity laws by restricting coverage by providing treatment limitations that are more restrictive than those applied to physical health benefits.
We have been stretched to the breaking point, both emotionally and financially as we watch our daughter battle this terrible disorder, OCD. We are pleading that her insurance company will allow Anna to stay in residential where she is finally receiving the treatment level needed for OCD until she has been determined by the professional treatment team at Rogers as ready for discharge. However, we have received a denial of coverage and will be forced to bring her home once again without full treatment benchmarks being met or to pay out of pocket $1000 per day for treatment.
We have been down this path for the past year of bringing her home too soon and then relapsing occurs. I have taken over 400 hours of sick leave this past year with FMLA to support the needs of my daughter. There just isn’t the strength to support a child in need and your own needs at the same time. This decision of our insurance company tragically impacts our whole family.
We are SO grateful for the treatment at Rogers, but our insurance company is trying to take this away from our daughter. As soon as GHC see’s progress, they strip away the supports in place.
I am reaching out for support from near and far to help keep our daughter in treatment. Thank you so much for your support and for sharing this story. Hopefully, we can all come together to recognize the value of mental health care in our lives.
Nancy
Anna has been in varying levels of intensive services with Rogers Behavioral Health since April 30, 2018. Currently, Anna is living at the Child and Adolescent Center for OCD and Anxiety (CAC). Anna’s OCD is severe with comorbidities which makes it a complex treatment that is not linear.
Intensive treatment was needed in order to provide Anna with the frequency for OCD therapy due to the severity of her disorder. The most important strategy in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for OCD is called “Exposure and Response Prevention” (ERP). “Exposure” refers to confronting the thoughts, images, objects and situations that make Anna anxious and start her obsessions. She then has to make a choice not to do the compulsive behavior and not give in while she notices a drop in her anxiety, which is called habituation. All of this is critical to be done under the guidance of a therapist and is difficult and takes time.
We have been fighting this battle for a year with lack of services provided by our insurance company of properly trained and available therapy in network and discharge from intensive services prior to clinical documentation that she is ready for discharge. This is in direct violation of federal and state parity laws by restricting coverage by providing treatment limitations that are more restrictive than those applied to physical health benefits.
We have been stretched to the breaking point, both emotionally and financially as we watch our daughter battle this terrible disorder, OCD. We are pleading that her insurance company will allow Anna to stay in residential where she is finally receiving the treatment level needed for OCD until she has been determined by the professional treatment team at Rogers as ready for discharge. However, we have received a denial of coverage and will be forced to bring her home once again without full treatment benchmarks being met or to pay out of pocket $1000 per day for treatment.
We have been down this path for the past year of bringing her home too soon and then relapsing occurs. I have taken over 400 hours of sick leave this past year with FMLA to support the needs of my daughter. There just isn’t the strength to support a child in need and your own needs at the same time. This decision of our insurance company tragically impacts our whole family.
We are SO grateful for the treatment at Rogers, but our insurance company is trying to take this away from our daughter. As soon as GHC see’s progress, they strip away the supports in place.
I am reaching out for support from near and far to help keep our daughter in treatment. Thank you so much for your support and for sharing this story. Hopefully, we can all come together to recognize the value of mental health care in our lives.
Nancy
Organizer
Nancy Coulter Kuehn
Organizer
Madison, WI