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Editorial: Ease the financial burden of mental health care

Greg and Maralee Parker of Elgin are strong advocates for their 28-year-old daughter who has bipolar disorder.

They were successful in getting more coverage from their health insurance company than originally offered. They successfully petitioned to have Social Security declare their daughter disabled before age 22, which yielded more disability income. And they work year after year with their dental provider to get the most coverage they can.

"I'm a nerd and I researched it," Greg Parker said. "A lot of people don't know this stuff.

Added Maralee: "There are just a lot of hoops to jump through. And if people don't understand that, that's really a barrier."

Indeed it is. In today's concluding story of a three-part series on the challenges mental health patients face, staff writers Marie Wilson and Elena Ferrarin chronicle the financial challenges these patients face, especially those living in poverty or who don't have an advocate like the Parkers.

The numbers are staggering: There could be almost 240,000 people in the six-county metropolitan area living in poverty and needing mental health care every year. How they find that care and pay for it is the biggest challenge.

"If your family has resources, your long-term prognosis is so much better than if your family doesn't have resources," said Ryan Dowd, executive director of the Hesed House homeless services agency in Aurora. "It's the difference between getting well and living a perfectly happy life with some therapy versus being homeless your entire life."

Added Diane Henning, behavioral health coordinator at Open Door Health Center of Illinois in Elgin: "A lot of people that have mental health concerns are showing up in the prisons and the jails and in homeless shelters and I just think it's awful. It's a sad commentary about where we are as a society."

That's not how it should be. That's why it's vital that mental health services remain a priority for state and federal funding. And why nonprofit agencies that help subsidize treatment are so important and worthy of charitable giving. Finally, sliding-fee scales offered by psychologists and counseling services can also be lifesavers. More need to be encouraged and recognized in their communities.

"I don't do this for the money, obviously," said Mount Prospect bilingual counselor Edgar Ramos, who has many clients that can't afford treatment. But he works with them anyway.

"If they make $8 an hour, then we're going to do our session for $8. I love what I do. I love who I do it for."

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