Medication Assistance Resources

Places to help with Medication Costs for those without insurance and for those with insurance, but high co-pays.

https://www.pparx.org/

www.goodrx.com

www.healthwarehouse.com

Local Free Clinics:
**Brock Hughes Medical Center in Wytheville
**Free Clinic of the Twin Counties in Galax

Specific Medications - Google name of medication and coupon - Ex. Bystolic Coupon. It often pops up a coupon good for a year that the manufacturer of the medication produces. For Bystolic, you can get up to $140.00 off.

You can also search Medication Assistance Programs (MAP).

For people who do not qualify for Medicaid, but still are lower income AND HAVE MENTAL ILLNESS, there is the Governor's Assistance Program (GAP). You can fill out the application via phone - you can find info here: (http://www.dmas.virginia.gov/Content_pgs/gap.aspx) and then will need to go to Mount Rogers for screening. Once you have GAP, it will cover basic medical costs and mental health costs for most providers. It does cover medications.

MHSS - What it is and what it is not

I work in the field of mental health.  For a year, I was a clinician.  Now, I am a team leader (supervisor to clinicians).  In both roles, I have often explained Mental Health Skill-building Services (MHSS) to community members and those with whom I work.  (Disclaimer:  These are my own opinions and thoughts, not necessarily those of the company for which I work.)

I think this analogy is the best description I have created:

A psychiatrist is the one who prescribes medications to address chemical imbalances in a person's brain.

A counselor is the one who helps a person work through previous trauma, family relationships, and all the other things that lay heavy upon a person's heart.

A MHSS clinician is the one who helps you learn how to do the things you need to develop a healthy life by reducing impact of mental illness.  MHSS clinicians also teach skills which were not otherwise developed - for example, communication skills, social skills, independent living skills like maintenance of hygiene, budgeting, cooking, household maintenance, etc.  MHSS clinicians train your hands how to work.

A Case Manager helps coordinate all other mental health and physical health providers and links people to community resources to meet a person's needs.

A treatment team means all the mental health providers and medical providers work together in order to provide appropriate treatment.


What MHSS is not... based on medicaid requirements and purview of services.

MHSS is not a taxi service or a companionship service - clinicians accompany clients to appointments when there is MHSS justification for doing so.  If the clinician is not needed, then developing independent transportation becomes an skill upon which client and clinician works.

MHSS is not a counseling service.  While many MHSS clinicians have Master's Degrees, not everyone does.  Further, counselors must hold a counseling license.  MHSS clinicians have a different criteria/qualification.  In Virginia, clinicians must be Qualified Mental Health Professional (QMHP) and specified for adults (QMHP-A) or chidren (QMHP-C).

MHSS is not a butler or maid service.  While clinicians often work with a client, it does no good (and often causes harm) if clinicians work harder than the client or "take over" tasks the client is able to complete.  Further, MHSS focuses on teaching skills, which means the client should be doing the work with assistance from the clinician.

MHSS is not a crisis service.  Because MHSS is not a counseling or therapy service, it would be inappropriate to attempt to provide crisis intervention and stabilization services - which have a fairly significant amount of therapeutic components.

MHSS is not a forever service - once goals are accomplished, discharge occurs.  The focus of MHSS is training people to be independent as much as possible.  Progress is tracked on a regular basis and treatment plans are tailored to the needs of each client.

Unfortunate Statements and a wish for something different

I work with a subset of the population which experiences discrimination on multiple fronts every single day.  Today was a doozy with stupid statements from well-meaning people who have no clue.

AND PLEASE UNDERSTAND - I am not sure I am even aware of all the bias and inaccurate information.  I do not LIVE the same life as do the people with whom I work.  I am blessed to have a life that has had different challenges and different lessons.  It is slowly that I am learning how very blessed I was and am.

But I am very much learning people's lives are neither simple nor easy.  There are no easy answers to "fix" problems which are society-wide and systemic.  There are no demons in this story.


Statements that make me clench my teeth and want to scream:

"I don't know why they can't just make better choices.  That's why they have food stamps to make sure they have food"

"We only let people come to the food pantry once a month cause it should be enough to get them through if they are really using their food stamps"

"People are only homeless because they are too lazy to work"

"If you pray enough, you won't have problems with mental illness"

"Those people are just abusing the system"

"Medicaid should not exist.  My taxes should not pay for people who can't be bothered to get a job"

"You can choose not to have mental illness"

"Only criminals go to jail"

"There are safety nets for people.  No one has to be homeless or hungry.  They just don't want help."


I just so very dearly wish that people would look past labels and preconceived ideas to see the PERSON on the other side of that neat little box.  Maybe if we could have honest and caring conversations, instead of taking the convenient short-cuts of incomplete labels, we might start seeing what can be done.