MHLAC: Legal advocates for people’s mental health issues

Here are two success stories:

Susan Fendell of Mental Health Legal Advisors successfully represented a woman who sees a therapist several times each week for substantial mental health care needs. The woman’s new health plan was not covering her therapist as her old health plan did because her therapist is not in the new plan's provider network. Attorney Fendell successfully intervened and the new health plan is now covering the woman’s therapy sessions.

Susan Fendell also closed the case of a man needing a prescription medication to treat his chronic mental health needs. The health plan denied coverage for the medication prescribed by his psychiatrist, wanting him to use a generic medicine to which he had had a bad reaction. Attorney Fendell advised the man on the health plan's prior authorization process and now he is receiving coverage for his medication of choice.

Thanks to Susan for providing these stories. If you live in Massachusetts, you can get free legal assistance on mental health legal matters from Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee; call MHLAC Intake at 617-338-2345 x120 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can also email them at intake@mhlac.org

Read the chapter of mental health stories in Ken Farbstein's book, Getting Your Best Health Care: Real-World Stories for Patient Empowerment.