How can mental health professionals (and others) rescue healthcare in the United States from excessive meddling by managed care companies?  One way is by supporting Rescue Healthcare Day.  Celebrated April 1, 2000, this is a day for protesting the excesses of managed care. Karen Shore, Ph.D. founded the organization National Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers as a way for providers to oppose practices such as excessive paperwork, the denial of needed care to save money, poorly trained employees overriding decisions made by licensed professionals, and dropping providers from panels because they exceed some statistical average. 

Managed care developed as a way to rein-in health care cost.  Mental health providers were sometimes guilty of keeping patients in inpatient units until their insurance ran out.  Remarkable improvement was often noted at the time that insurance benefits were about to expire.  It can be argued that something needed to be done about impatient costs.  Outpatient costs were never as high, however.  Numerous studies have shown that outpatient mental health benefits pay for themselves as patients become healthier physically and need less medical care.

The following are some ways that you can support Rescue Healthcare Day:

• Wear a green ribbon.  
  According to Shore, "Green, the color of new life, symbolizes the hope for a new and better system.

• Participate in a teach-in. 
  Shore returns to the 1960's and 1970's for her inspiration here.  She refers to the the civil rights and the Vietnam war as she describes these activities.  She notes that "any group can organize a Teach-In and use it to promote their own ideas for movement a better health care system or to provide a forum for a variety of ideas."

• Protest on your lunch hour. 
  Professionals and consumers are are encouraged to select a designated location in their community for an "Hour of Protest" at 11:30 am.  The site includes suggestions about how to protest.

• Observe a minute of silence.
  for the death of managed care?  Not exactly.  Shore describes it as a silence "to mark the death of quality care and the deaths of and harm done to patients at the hands of managed care."