HOW TO GET WHAT YOU NEED
FROM COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH
By Martha A. Churchill
1. WHAT
What do you need? State it
clearly in a letter to the case manager. According to federal
law, there are quite a few things that CMH is required to
do for consumers who are either mentally ill or developmentally
disabled. Find out more about this by clicking on What
Medicaid Pays For.
2. WHEN
When do you need it? If you
need it right away, say so, and explain briefly why it is
urgent. Otherwise, give a time limit. "I need it within
60 days."
3. WHO
Who will do it? Do not volunteer
to do it yourself, because then the CMH case manager will
do nothing to help you. Tell the CMH case manager that you
want him/her to do it. It may seem cruel to ask someone who
is so busy to help you, but that is the way the system works.
If you don’t ask, you won’t get it.
4. PCP
Ask the case manager for a
PCP meeting. That stands for "Person Centered Planning."
During the meeting, ask again for what you want. If the next
PCP meeting isn’t supposed to take place until next year,
just tell the case manager you want another one next week,
and you don’t want to wait until next year. They have an obligation
under federal law to give you a PCP meeting whenever you ask
for one, even if the last one was just a month ago.
5. REPORT
If you didn’t get a PCP report,
ask for one. If they fail to give you a report, that is a
violation of the consumer’s rights under federal Medicaid
law. Make sure the report promises that the case manager will
do what you asked for.
6. Medicaid Hearing
If the CMH case manager does
not do everything in steps 1-5 above, file a request for a
Medicaid Fair Hearing.
[For a complete copy of my
8-page written materials "How to get what you need from
CMH without being a pest," which I distributed at a seminar
in Traverse City, Michigan, click on TRAVERSE.]
