SENATE BILL: ...Mental Health Reform Act of 2013 (Failed)

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

The amendment has been adopted.


The question is simple really. How do we expand support for the family members of mental health patients so as to reduce a tremendous disincentive regarding going to get treatment, that of finances?

I don't need a statistic to tell me this exists and it has served to create many of the problems I have to contront because of the environment it produces.

Doesn't finances isn't a problem, given Tricare?

What do you mean? Tricare is the military's program that we are phasing out and rolling into Fritzcare.

[MaxQue]

The amendment has been adopted.


The question is simple really. How do we expand support for the family members of mental health patients so as to reduce a tremendous disincentive regarding going to get treatment, that of finances?

I don't need a statistic to tell me this exists and it has served to create many of the problems I have to contront because of the environment it produces.

Doesn't finances isn't a problem, given Tricare?

What do you mean? Tricare is the military's program that we are phasing out and rolling into Fritzcare.

Sorry, always confused names. But, I mean, the costs for families of mental healthcare should already be covered under Fritzcare, no?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I don't know how much that provides for support for families, more or less whether it is adequate.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Fritzcare contains a list of things covered. IT may well be there but the list isn't big on detail or the exent to which anything is done.


My plan yesterday was to review some other legislative items and then hopefully get somewhere, possibly with the assistance of Superique who may or may not be back as of this time (I saw him on, but Nix said otherwise in another bill).

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Only part of the Comprehensive Social Security Act:

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[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I'm worried that this thing is getting out of control.

First principles... what is this thing designed to achieve? and what's the best way to do it?

[Napoleon]

I am tempted to file a motion to table. I don't think that we should allow an incomplete (or worse, effectively blank) bill to hit the Senate floor, much less occupy a slot for multiple weeks. Do either of you expect that you'll be able to flesh this out within the next couple of days?

Ha.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

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[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I'm worried that this thing is getting out of control.

First principles... what is this thing designed to achieve? and what's the best way to do it?

What do you mean?

This is achieves just about everything I laid out in the my sponsor advocacy post:

And here is the outline that I created soon afterwards.

There as been steady building up towards that over that period. There were periods of slowness caused by elections and the Pacific stuff back in June, As well as my new computer quiting on May 2nd, the day after I posted this thread, after which it was working on and off until the Saturday during the June Elections when it quit permenently. Fortunately I am back on the old XP one now. It is difficutl to do research and stuff on a borrowed computer, especially when you got paranoid relatives who might think it is for them rather than some political simulation.

Of course there has also been a problem getting people to engage, even on tiny sub issues that I have focused attention, even going so far as to put them in in the topic header. Fortunately a big boon came from having Superique as SoIA.

Our last objective is to find some means of support for, improvement in the support for, the family members of mental health patients (especially in low income situations) so that putting bread on the table doesn't discourage someone ill from gettign treatment. That is dangerous, it is unheathly for everyone involved and I know from personal experience.

Do you have any ideas on the subject, Polnut? The CSS dances around it as you can see from the segement of it that I posted above, and there is no mention of it in Fritzcare. It doesn't necessarily have to be a welfare program, either.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It's also not like you have a connection to this effort already.

I also want to thank the assistance of Secretary Polnut, and Former Senator Franzl who provided feedback on their respective real life county's systems, which though lacking in detailed substance, was informative to a great extent about the problem. We know from their feedback that this is a global problem and that people generall are lacking in awareness of available options and utilities, as much as they are unwilling to discuss the matter, not all that different from the situations we have here. Others were contacted as well, but I am not able to recall whether they replied or not and the VP can perhaps provide a fuller account of such feedback with regards to who all replied and provided information on this matter.

By the way, have you found out any more of that detail, since then?

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

I'm afraid I cannot add more detail.

Looking over this, I'm more comfortable than I was.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Okay then forget Australia and forget mental health systems in general and so forth, just focus on the financial disincentive and how to work against that. The last piece of the puzzle and lets try not to break the bank here.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

The point is that Australia's mental health system is intrinsic to the national healthcare system, things such as, mental health plans to enable people to claim psychologists fees against medicare. So what does work is ensuring that it works in a way that is inter-linked with the established system.

[MaxQue]

Okay then forget Australia and forget mental health systems in general and so forth, just focus on the financial disincentive and how to work against that. The last piece of the puzzle and lets try not to break the bank here.

Shouldn't mental healthcare be integrated into Fritzcare?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

N ON O NO NO NO

Read my damn posts:

Our last objective is to find some means of support for, improvement in the support for, the family members of mental health patients (especially in low income situations) so that putting bread on the table doesn't discourage someone ill from gettign treatment. That is dangerous, it is unheathly for everyone involved and I know from personal experience.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I was going to just insert some text into the CSS to address this, but then I remembered I am suppose to be the conservative in all this mess, so I am now going for a much more complex system involving coordination with private non-profit groups and so forth.

[Fmr. Pres. Duke]

The fact that no one has gone crazy trying to read this bill indicates, to me at least, that most of the senators here will not need to join Yankee and I in the crazy house. Kind of, well, disappointing...

[Sec. of State Superique]

I was going to just insert some text into the CSS to address this, but then I remembered I am suppose to be the conservative in all this mess, so I am now going for a much more complex system involving coordination with private non-profit groups and so forth.

We are talking about millions being wasted on silly burocracies to handle the funding of private institutions just because you supposed to be a conservative? I though we get rid of Tricare because of its complexity. I think that if you want this system to work, just keep inside the Fritzcare.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I was going to just insert some text into the CSS to address this, but then I remembered I am suppose to be the conservative in all this mess, so I am now going for a much more complex system involving coordination with private non-profit groups and so forth.

We are talking about millions being wasted on silly burocracies to handle the funding of private institutions just because you supposed to be a conservative? I though we get rid of Tricare because of its complexity. I think that if you want this system to work, just keep inside the Fritzcare.

At this point I will say pretty much any damn thing in this thread to get someone to pay attention.

Also I thinking of using it to augment any federal resources provided, just like I did with the infrastructure.

I would suggest lookign at the Reorganization Act just signed into. I used its agencies, which Nix drew up. Fritzcare as an agency is seperate from most of the things being done here.

Also welfare itself isn't in Fritzcare. Part of it is in the Comprehesnive Social Security Act and the rest is strewn out of over several other bills, though the most were collected into that killer piece ofl egislation.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

You know, as I complete this bill, we find that it is more and more dependent on other bills that haven't passed yet.


Considering the Basic Income thing, would it be possible to ensure that this problem is addressed as a part of that, whilst just leaving the section in question as blank or tbd by future legislation?

Thoughts? Mr. President what about you?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Alternatively, this is the beginnings of what could be an in legislation approach.

Section IV: Support for Family Members
1. In order to provide sufficient support for the dependents of mental health patients so as to reduced the the discentive of financial impact on the decision to seek treatment for an illness, the office of Social Security shall coordinate with the Agency for Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services and the Fritzcare agency to ensure that all those patients who are the primary source of income for their dependents received the necessary level of financial assistance for the course of their work/income disruption.

[Sec. of State Superique]

I like that but aren't you justifying the article? At least at the first 2.5  lines.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It establishes the goal for the agenies to attain. The why behind what it is in the last half, which will guide the agencies as they are structuring the system.

It is a less than ideal way to do it though, in general. I would pefer to set a monetary level to be attained and then have them work towards that goal either amongst the agencies and with possibly with the assistance of community organizations and so forth.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

It is most certainly a rather confusing issue to be sure because we have all these bills being considered that interact with one another, and the smart way to do it would be cross-referencing so as to acheive a level of integration so as to promote maximum effectiveness. I think you would agree with that, Mr. President.


That said, I have an acute sense of time on this thing and I would like to it get it done as soon as possible. So I think I will modify the previous text that I posted, after which I will then offer that along with some tweaks elsewhere in the bill and then we can wrap this up this week.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Alternatively, this is the beginnings of what could be an in legislation approach.

Section IV: Support for Family Members
1. In order to provide sufficient support for the dependents of mental health patients so as to reduced the the discentive of financial impact on the decision to seek treatment for an illness, the office of Social Security shall coordinate with the Agency for Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services and the Fritzcare agency to ensure that all those patients who are the primary source of income for their dependents receive the necessary level of financial assistance for the course of their work/income disruption.

2. The level of assistance will be determined by the amount of the decline in income below the appropriate level proscribed in the "Basic Income Initiative Act" for the household in question, so to ensure such minimum is maintained and thereby acheiving the objectives established in clause 1.

The current text is right up at the character limit so this may need to be condesnsed down somewhat. I also want to make some minor alterations elsewhere and tighten up the wording of this, before it is offered. My hope is to do that tomorrow.