Mental Health - Huffington Post
MENTAL HEALTH
// Huffington Post //
Mental Health Care Coverage Is Leaving Kids Behind And Families Reeling
A family’s ongoing battle with UnitedHealth shows how insurance companies are failing children with psychiatric disorders. Logan, 18, was in and out of psychiatric treatment throughout his childhood. An estimated 740,000 children and adolescents in the U.S. may qualify for diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder. “If you are middle class, it is damn near impossible to do anything for a mentally-ill child,” says Amanda Brown, whose son Logan, 18, has been in and out of psychiatric care. Logan began acting out as early as age 2. At various times, he has been diagnosed with mood disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and bipolar disorder.
Published by the Huffington Post, the following series was originally commissioned by The New York Times as a depiction of the middle class experience of battling insurance companies for proper medical treatment through the story of Logan and his mother Amanda whom home schools him and oversees his home treatment in Allen, TX.