Committee and Task Force News
Rumors of Managed Care's Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated.
The title of this article intentionally borrows from the great American social commentator Mark Twain. With his keen eye, surely Twain would have seen the farce of managed care and roasted it with his razor wit. Alas, Twain has indeed left us, and it falls to the shoulders of lesser wits (e.g. the author) to help flesh out the evils of a system. Fortunately, the task is not done alone, and the fellow members of the above mentioned Task Force, so intelligently funded by your Division dollars, press on. These intrepid souls include Chairs Stanley Moldawsky and Stanley Graham and members Joe Bak, Frank Goldberg, Arthur Kovacs, Karen Kovacs-North, Ivan Miller, Russ Holstein, Brian Sweeney, Karen Shore and Mary Kilburn.
Some pundits would have you believe that the system of managed care is changing, perhaps even collapsing, and some of us may take comfort in the belief that if we only wait long enough the times will change. For three years, the members of this Task Force have said that waiting, any waiting is too long, and we continue to individually and as a group make efforts to change a system which we see as fundamentally antithetical to good patient care and best clinical practice. Any system that imposes limits on people in the name of pursuing the welfare of those people, but which in reality is reaping financial gain by lying and distorting the truth to the detriment of the people it is designed to serve, is inherently wrong.
In a sentence, this is managed mental health care.
Further proselytizing is unneeded, as most of you know the truth. This article is primarily a brief update on the work of our Task Force with an eye toward our future and perhaps one of the futures of the fight against managed care.
As we have done for three years, our Task Force hopes to again present a program at the APA Convention designed to bring cutting edge news to the APA membership at large. This year’s program promises to be an exciting one yet again (details to follow in other editions).
Individual members continue to pursue their own paths. Perhaps union affiliation holds a key to the future say Joe Bak and Frank Goldberg, and indeed recent events in other professional organizations suggest that unions are indeed no longer just for blue collar workers. With legislation allowing collective bargaining for independent practitioners continuing in Congress (a slow venture), unions are positioned to become a large help in the lives of independent psychologists. In the legal arena, Russ Holstein courageously offered his name as the lead on a suit by Attorney Joe Sahid that was won and settled, a milestone victory to match those won by APA in California and New Jersey.
Ivan Miller and Mary Kilburn have taken the path of the consumer, knowing that the ultimate power of change may come from those most affected by the problem; the end users of mental health services. Each has aligned with state organizations to aid patient's rights and increase consumer awareness.
The irrepressible Karen Shore continues to lead the National Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers, one of the most outspoken groups on the subject of managed mental health care, and sponsors of the national hit, Rescue Health Care Day.
Stan Graham is ever present, his knowledge on nearly every subject awesome, and his sharp political understanding a constant value to some of us novices. And, in perhaps the most selfless and heroic act, Stan Moldawsky forwarded himself as a candidate for APA president. His bid, though unsuccessful (this time?), shone the spotlight for all APA members on his belief that the current managed mental health system is wrong for patients and therapy.
As a group, but spearheaded by the fastest writer I have ever met, Arthur Kovacs, our Task Force has looked to the future. We know managed care is a corrupt system, but what shall we do when it falls? Arthur Kovacs, along with others, has forged a vision for the future, to design a health care system that can address the needs of the public, by recognizing mental health care as a public good that should be well funded because of the value it offers. Efforts on several fronts to forward this agenda both within the APA and with other advocacy and interest groups are moving apace. It is difficult changing the course of a nation, but time and tide always prevail.
Perhaps the above has piqued your interest a bit. If so, look for more articles in the IP from others of the Task Force as they outline in more detail their own work and its potential impact and benefit for you as a psychologist. In the words of comedian Mort Sahl (thanks Arthur), "the future lies ahead"; for this Task Force, we hope to be there already waiting to greet the future, and shaping it to what we believe is the best system for all, where people not profits are the key goal.
"Endeavor to persevere."
Ed Lundeen, Ph.D. Allentown, PA
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