D.C.’s health system is not healthy

A stethoscope

Pixabay

For many years I struggled with depression and anxiety. After receiving mental health treatment in Maryland, I decided to get treatment in the District. When I started going to mental health facilities there I had a blue-and-white Medicaid card. A few years later, the D.C. government sent my Qualified Medical Beneficiary (QMB) card. But no one at the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH) would accept my QMB card. This meant not receiving mental health services for a long time, which made me very unhappy.
The DBH refers people to the Core Service Agency. But that agency does not have to accept your medical insurance. This is a big problem. I spent months shuffling between agencies trying to get appointments. That happened so often I had no other choice but to leave the D.C. mental health system and seek help elsewhere. I found it at Andromeda, a community-based health care clinic in NW D.C.
My experience shows that the District must improve its mental health system so that other citizens who need the services most don’t fall through the cracks.


Issues |Health, Physical


Region |Washington DC

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