How do I get medical help for my adult daughter who is bipolar who has no insurance and very little money?

Question

She doesn't qualify for the medical card. Our local life skills office takes months to get an appointment and then they can not prescribe medications. Are there any teaching universities that offer free help like Vanderbilt or University of Louisville?

Answer 1

First of all, I’m sorry about your daughter. One reason it’s good to get help quickly is that it can take a long time to accurately diagnose and treat bipolar disorder. Two organizations I recommend is the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI chapters in each state: http://www.namifl.org/), which offers free advice about how to get the help you need and Mood Garden (http://moodgarden.org/) a support site for people with mood disorders like bipolar disorder and depression.

Here are few ideas (I’m assuming your daughter is in Tennessee. Add more information if you live in another state, and I’ll dig up some appropriate links.):

•Free clinics: http://medkind.com/Scripts/Modules/Module6/A1.idc?Code
•County health department: http://www2.state.tn.us/health/LocalDepts/index.html
•Insurance through her work. Many insurance plans now include behavioral health benefits.
•Local college medical schools sometimes offer free our discount counseling and treatment, as you mention, but you will probably have to contact the institutions directly (or ask a NAMI representative when you call)
•TennCare: http://www.tennessee.gov/tenncare/
•Tennessee Mental Health Services: http://tennessee.gov/mental/mhs.html
•Tennessee Association of Mental Health Organizations: http://www.tamho.org/service_guide.htm
•Needy Meds (http://www.needymeds.com/): offers links to drug discount and treatment programs. You can search by state, disease/condition, or discount drug program.

Local health insurance agents: http://www.mostchoice.com/health-insurance.cfm. You fill out a form and within 48 hours an agent contacts you. You might look into health maintenance organizations (HMOs), which typically included behavioral health care for a low fee.

Good luck,
Barnes@MostChoice

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

You need to look in the phone book under mental health agencies & services. and if they say that your daughter need to be on meds and need to be seen by a doctor at lease once a week or more then have them put that in writting and take it to the wifare office and they have to help her or give her some where to go to get help. and if she real bad then they might help to get her on other thing I don't know what their called but start there . I wish you luck But get everything in writting

Answer 4

Call 211, or whatever the number is for your local united way hotline. They will know what resources are available in your area, and will get you set up.

Answer 5

I understand that many doctors can give free samples, I know that many people over at http://www.crazyboards.org go that route. I'd suggest asking the question there.

Answer 6

Ask your doctor for suggestions.

Call the universities you mentioned and ask them your question.