TL;DR: I am still on my parent's insurance. They live in Boston and I am a graduate student in California. Because of high co-pays, I can't get the medication I need for my mental health. If this is not the right sub for this, please let me know.
I am a 22-year-old graduate student. I am still on my mom's insurance and I think it has really great coverage. I was diagnosed last summer with depression and binge eating disorder by a psychiatrist, let's call him Dr. X. To treat these two conditions, Dr. X prescribed me an anti-depressant and Vyvanse for my binge-eating. I'd like to note here that my mother is also a doctor (a pediatrician) and Dr. X is an old friend of my mom's. When it comes to health things, I don't really know much. As long as I'm getting medication that I need, I don't really require any information. I saw Dr. X in person a few times and for the next year, he prescribed me all of my medication even though he is in Boston and I'm a student in California. These two medications have absolutely changed my life. I had no idea that most psychiatrists require monthly in-person visits if they are prescribing you controlled substances like Vyvanse.
My problems started when Dr. X called me this summer and let me know that he was retiring from his practice. My first thought was "oh this sucks, looks like I'll have to find a psychiatrist near me". When I called up my insurance to find nearby psychiatrists in my plan, they informed me that any mental healthcare provider I saw in California would automatically have a $100 copay for every visit (and a deductible of $10,000). I also found out that most of these psychiatrists would not prescribe me medicine unless I also saw a therapist 1-2 per month. So all of a sudden, I was looking at $300 a month, not including the costs of my medication itself. I am fortunate enough that my family is middle-class (even upper-middle class, to some), but we were nowhere near prepared to spend $3,600/year on my mental healthcare costs. Especially because I am a graduate student, I am transitioning into being fully independent. This is not a financial burden I want to put on my family.
I then turned to my university. When I was an undergrad (at a different school), my school had excellent healthcare services included in the cost of tuition. There, I had all of my medical needs taken care of and even saw a therapist twice a month for over 2 years. When I visited my current school's student health center, I was informed that they only handled short-term care for mental health problems. I would only be allowed to meet with a therapist up to 5 times during the academic year and I could only see a psychiatrist on an equally short-term basis. After this, I turned to a community-based clinic. I was hopeful because this clinic allowed people to pay on a sliding-scale (even if they had insurance). At my meeting with the clinic's financial advisor, I told her about my $100 co-pay problem and she told me that I could pay according to my salary instead (about $15 per visit). However, once I was clinically assessed, I was told that I would only be able to meet with a therapist up to 10 times and that I could not see a psychiatrist. This clinic mostly served the elderly, the homeless, and the drug-addicted. Because my conditions had not hospitalized me, they couldn't make the space. I understand that my mental health problems don't put me in immediate danger, so I accepted this answer and moved on.
Desperate (and running out of medication), I turned back to my mom. I asked her to prescribe me my medications herself until we got things worked out. I was able to get my anti-depressants through her without a problem. However, the first time I showed up to my pharmacy with her Vyvanse prescription, the pharmacist refused to fill it. I understand that it must have looked suspicious to him. I was a young student turning in a prescription for a very popular college drug. The prescribing doctor also happened to share my last name and was based in Boston...I was turning in the prescription in California. She was also a pediatrician, not a psychiatrist.
Now it's been a few months since this whole problem started in August. I am running out of my medication. As it wears off, I have been bingeing more and more consistently. Some days, I eat so much, I can't even get out of bed. I am considering taking out extra student loans in order to pay for my healthcare costs. Something else I can't stop thinking of though: I am so privileged to have great insurance and a doctor parent....so if this is my situation, I can't imagine what other college students in worse off circumstances do to get their medication. We have to fix the healthcare system....
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