Mental Health Services for Children With No Insurance
Children who have no health insurance may qualify for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and their parents should apply so they can receive the mental health care as well as other health-care services they need. However, some children simply fall through the cracks; their families earn too much to qualify for government insurance programs like Medicaid but don't earn enough to buy private health insurance policies or pay out-of-pocket for costly mental health care.
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Outpatient Care
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Outpatient mental health services for children include individual and family counseling, group therapy and play therapy for very young children. Outpatient services also include consultation with a child psychiatrist who can prescribe antidepressants, antipsychotics and other psychotropic drugs as needed. Children with no insurance can often receive services through county mental-health agencies, where they base fees on clients' incomes.
Emergency Room Care
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The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act requires hospital emergency rooms to provide lifesaving treatment to all patients during medical emergencies, even if they have no insurance and no way to pay for the treatment they receive. Children who need mental health care because they are at risk for harming themselves or others or have already harmed themselves can seek care at any hospital emergency room. If they need inpatient care, hospital social workers will try to make arrangements for them to receive the care they need, regardless of their financial situation. If outpatient care will suffice, hospital social workers will try to refer them to appropriate community resources.
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Inpatient Care
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Hospitals often have some funds available to help indigent patients pay for inpatient care, including inpatient mental health care. In some cases, hospitals can use county mental-health funds to help pay for inpatient mental health care for uninsured patients. Ask to speak to the child or adolescent mental-health social worker at your local hospital if your child needs inpatient mental-health services and you're not sure how to pay for the care. You can also talk to a financial counselor at your local hospital.
Substance Abuse Treatment
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Most county mental-health agencies that provide mental-health services on a sliding scale also provide substance-abuse treatment on a sliding scale. The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act requires hospitals to provide emergency treatment to those with chemical dependency even if they cannot pay, including the provision of medically supervised detoxification, if medically necessary in the presence of life-threatening health problems.
Medication
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Many pharmaceutical companies offer patient assistance programs to help uninsured patients obtain the medications they need. Such programs are open to children as well as adults, and many companies that manufacture psychotropic medications offer such programs.
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References
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