Psychologist urges Senate to pass patients? bill, explains needs of mental health consumers

While most consumers say it is difficult to work through the bureaucracy of managed-care companies to get medically necessary treatment, it is especially arduous for patients with mental health needs, according to Dan Abrahamson, PhD, a clinical psychologist from the Traumatic Stress Institute in South Windsor, Conn.

Abrahamson brought that message to Capitol Hill during a Sept. 23 press conference.

'Some of my patients choose not to use their managed-care and HMO benefits in order to avoid the hassles and intrusions into the most vulnerable parts of their lives,' said Abrahamson.

He urged the Senate to pass the Patients? Bill of Rights, which would give consumers the right to sue their managed-care plans if a company?s decision not to provide treatment harmed a patient.

Abrahamson gave several examples of patients who were harmed by managed-care policies, including a Vietnam veteran who experienced flashbacks and nightmares each time his treatment had to be reviewed for continued authorization and a woman seeking counseling for an abusive marriage who was severely beaten by her husband when a managed-care company called her at home to evaluate her need for treatment.

Administrative obstacles managed-care companies impose on practitioners who seek treatment authorization?including claims that the managed-care company never received an authorization request and limits on the number of sessions?also are harmful to patients because they serve as an indirect way to reduce care, Abrahamson said.

?L. Rabasca