Michigan Health is Health Coalition

09/11/2023

Thank you Veronica Paiz, MI State Representative for co-sponsoring House Bill 4707. We appreciate your support!

09/11/2023

"At points during this journey, we have been advised to abandon our son back to the foster care system or to criminalize him into the juvenile detention system. He is our child and he is worth every penny and there is no question that we are doing what is right to save him.

It is not right that families are going bankrupt due to the barriers of insurance in order to provide our children the best chance at a quality life."

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One Michigan mom struggles with private insurance to get the mental health care her son needs.

08/11/2023

Recent polling of 2024 likely voters in found strong, bipartisan support for House Bill 4707. Call your lawmaker and share your support: https://www.house.mi.gov/

08/11/2023

"We have drained two retirement accounts, savings, refinanced our home, sold our cars, and maxed out credit. We borrowed from family. We fundraised. We have leveraged all debt available to us to pay for our son’s treatment thus far.

Even still, BCBS Michigan claims that we have not met any deductibles or met our out-of-pocket costs."

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One Michigan mom struggles with private insurance to get the mental health care her son needs.

07/11/2023

Thank you State Representative Amos O'Neal for co-sponsoring House Bill 4707. We appreciate your support!

07/11/2023

"My new employer provides insurance through Priority Health and that became effective for me on June 1st. We submitted for prior authorization for my son's treatment immediately. We received a call one week later denying coverage.
They denied the coverage because the facility doesn't meet their definition of residential care because it doesn't have a 24 hour onsite nurse. However, for this level of care, our plan states 'patients admitted to residential care are usually voluntary and unlikely to need extensive nursing care.' Either way, the facility does have 24 hour on-call nursing care available."

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One Michigan mom struggles with private insurance to get the mental health care her son needs.

06/11/2023

Michigan lawmakers must act to ensure people can access the mental health treatments they need—because right now, many can’t. Call your lawmaker in support of HB 4707: https://www.house.mi.gov/

06/11/2023

"On October 9th we received a letter from BCBS informing us that our $382,000 of claims were denied, again. This time, the insurance claim was denied because the treatment facility is an out-of-network provider. BCBS doesn't have any appropriate in-network providers for my son's condition.

The letter was dated July 7th and said we had 4 months from the date of notice to request the next level of appeal. After months of waiting for BCBS to deny the claims, they were giving us less than 30 days to appeal."

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One Michigan mom struggles with private insurance to get the mental health care her son needs.

05/11/2023

When it comes to mental health, the right treatment, at the right time, can be life-changing – and often lifesaving. Let’s make sure those treatments are covered as they should be. Call your lawmaker and tell them you support HB 4707 - https://www.house.mi.gov/

05/11/2023

Thank you Representative Christine Morse for co-sponsoring House Bill 4707. We appreciate your support!

04/11/2023

Drea Vazquez from Saint Clair Shores, Michigan, shares why you should support HB 4707!

"This bill could help your loved ones, friends & neighbors. Step up & demand a change that can save lives!"

Join the coalition of supporters of The Mental Health Access Act (HB 4707) and tell your legislator how important mental health care is to Michigan’s future. Find your legislators contact information at https://www.house.mi.gov/.

04/11/2023

Please join us in welcoming the Spark Center for Autism to the coalition. We appreciate your support!

03/11/2023

All Michiganders deserve better access to mental health care treatments — and HB 4707 would deliver just that. Contact your lawmaker in support today! https://www.house.mi.gov/

03/11/2023

67% of the state’s voters want Michigan health insurance plans to use nationally recognized clinical standards of care when making decisions about whether to cover the treatments health care provider recommend. Contact your lawmaker in support of HB 4707 - https://www.house.mi.gov/

02/11/2023

Please join us in welcoming the Michigan Council for Maternal and Child Health to the coalition. We appreciate your support!

02/11/2023

Families are suffering, HB4707 can provide them with relief and greater access to care, there is no time to wait.

"I was laid off from my job because it was taking too much of my time to participate in my son's treatment and manage the insurance situation. I immediately signed up for Cobra to cover our family until I became eligible for the insurance at my new job.

The claims that we submitted during this time have all been denied on the basis that BCBS of Michigan claims we were uninsured, despite accepting my payments for coverage."

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One Michigan mom has tried using private insurance to get the mental health care her son needs. In this series of 8 posts, we are sharing how that has gone for their family.
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02/11/2023

Thank you State Representative Brenda Carter for co-sponsoring House Bill 4707. We appreciate your support!

01/11/2023

"BCBS of Michigan finally started processing our claims after 9 months of submitting them. All of them were denied except for one week in January. We have no idea what was different about that one week to explain why it was approved and the other 36 weeks were not covered. Ultimately, it didn't matter, because BCBS Michigan later informed us that they would not issue a payment for that week, after all.

Our attorney submitted an appeal on the denials. We waited weeks for confirmation that they had received our appeal and, once again, the attorney had to press them to find it misfiled. BCBS Michigan had filed it as a complaint instead of an appeal. The waiting game began again."

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One Michigan mom has tried using private insurance to get the mental health care her son needs. In this series of 8 posts, we are sharing how that has gone for their family.
3/8