Now would probably be a good time to work on not catastrophizing this. The reality is, you don't have all the information. Some things that are likely true:
Can it be appealed after the first appeal?
Usually, yes. Three appeals is fairly standard.
But are you going to tell me that a therapist that has never spoken one word to me can tell me what I need in respect to mental healthcare? Nope, but UHC does it and if I had a choice of whom I would have as an insurence carrier it would NOT be UHC.
This is unfortunately normal. I had a service denied that was really necessary and helpful. It doesn't matter. This is often how it works. Now, I know that's no real comfort, but it may help you balance the thought to know that you could easily have this issue on any plan, and at any time.
From the day the Dr sends the meds (day of Dr visit) it takes them 10 days to process that. That meant i was 10 days, well 8, without it. Couldn't order it until the appointment which was exactly 28 days before the last. I had to have him send it twice, get ahead of it, for it to not leave me in a gapping hole.
This is also frustrating, and also becoming more and more common. Needing to 'stack' the prescriptions with the mail-order company so you don't run out. Again - it's a pain in the ass, but it's not the medical community conspiring against you, and it's not even that you are having some odd streak of bad luck. These are all normal changes that insurance plans have been implementing.
If we have unlimited amounts of an apeal then I'll just having him appeal it but I will ask him to appeal in writing. We may already be past the time for the appeal
Usually, the appeal clock re-starts at each notification. So, 6 months for the first, and then if you are rejected, another 6 months from the date of the rejection for the second appeal, and etc. It doesn't mean you shouldn't move quickly; but if you have had one appeal denied, it will be better for you to talk with your therapist before he re-submits. I'd strongly recommend waiting til you see him next, if you can.
I am just so f*cking frustrated with how one can be labeled "functional" because they can work or are "doing better at work". I am, by definition alone (not diagnosed), agoraphobic. I live in a tomb. In the dark. I am great at compartmentalizing to work and that's it. I go to work and home and that's it. I fast walk a store getting half of what I needed and normally have issue with that. I go no where else. So how the f*ck can I gain community support when the community scares the f*ck out of me?
I hear you. But I also want to point out that you've come farther than this. You don't just go to work and go home. When you are home, you do training with Chopper, and that's both outside and inside. You even went with him to sit outside Walgreens. I remember maybe six months ago, you got a coloring book you like and you went to Panera and managed to sit there at least once, maybe twice.
It's very easy to hold onto how we think of ourselves at our worst, especially when stress occurs. It's a kind of coping, but it's really maladaptive. The problem with it is, you can change your healthy behaviors back again to correlate with older, less skilled behaviors. Don't decide you can't do things. Look at the things you can do, alongside the things you can't do. Balance the thoughts. This is DBT, you have spent time with it, and you can do this.
I don't know but I do know the mom thing is just under the surface but its huge and I am terried that once it blows, and I am now living alone....and walgreens is just down the street that sell, and I can legally buy, duster...you know? Even 2 years clean I know the addict mind. Hell 13 ish years off of coke and I know I'd do a line if it were in front of me. Duster is even harder as its legal to buy. And that was a scarier addiction. Ex roommates taking my pulse multiple times a night on a binge.
I feel like by allowing yourself to think this way, you are creating fears that may not even come to pass. You might not be carrying a grief time-bomb. Maybe you've been healing all this time. And you won't be alone, either. You have Chopper - whether he's a service dog or not, you and he are finally bonding and you've written a ton of positive stuff about that.
Remember when you were going to lose your job? That didn't happen, right?
I am not saying that insurance isn't a pain in the ass, stressful, and upsetting. It's all those things. But you should let yourself meet the challenge with the skills you have, now - don't revert to being the person you were even six months ago. The progress we make doesn't matter in the easy times - it matters in the tough times, like now.
If absolute worst, with the insurance, comes to pass - and you can only see him every other week - there are options. Don't think about paying for 2 sessions a month by yourself - budget out and see if you could do one, on a sliding scale. That would only leave you with one empty week a month, where you had to bridge two weeks. Look up what the free group resources are in your area. It might be time to start doing a support group; and it doesn't have to be for PTSD. It could be for depression/anxiety, it could be for loss, it could be for chronic pain, it could be for addiction...lots of options.
It'd be good for you to draft a budget, anyway (if you haven't already) - since you are going to be paying rent on your own. Figure out what might be reasonable. You can do this.
