(CW/Self-Harm) apparently calling the suicide hotline can result in the cops showing up to drag you off to a psychological torture facility and being saddled with thousands in debt

https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/1b1qtjn/texted_the_free_988_hotline_cops_showed_up_to_my/

Yes, you are on the hook for the bill even if involuntary. You made some kind of statement which indicated a threat of self-harm or harm to others. Each state has different requirements and process for it. I'm in Massachusetts and it is commonly called, "being sectioned", as the form is from Section 12 of a Massachusetts General Law Title VII Chapter 123. Here is the link if you'd like to peruse the relevant law. https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXVII/Chapter123/Section12. That is for Massachusetts but every state has their own version of it, who can issue it, and what must follow. In Massachusetts you are required to be evaluated by a mental health professional within 72 hours of being involuntarily brought to a healthcare facility in which case the provider will either extend the hold or release it.

As far as the bill unfortunately you are responsible for it as you received the care. The good news though is medical billing is something of a shellgame. Most healthcare systems receive reimbursement through insurance whether public or private. These insurers negotiate favorable rates with these healthcare systems to show effectiveness and cost reduction. The healthcare systems know this so the, "sticker price", for services is often well outside the actual cost and this is where it benefits you.

I worked for a decade in a private 911 system. We based our operating costs on an average reimbursement of about $250 because that was the average payment we received from insurance. Public was lower and commercial insurance higher but that was the average. We, and all similar companies, "billed" about $1500 to ensure when Blue Cross paid it's rate it came out to a number we could have a margin on. The remainder was billed to the patient but this was never money we expected to collect. Ever. Patient's don't pay, just don't count on it. Eventually the bill is sold to a collection agency for less than pennies on the dollar. So anytime a patient would reach out to settle a debt our billing department had tremendous latitude to settle at a lower price because anything after insurance pays is practically free profit. A $5k bill could be settled for far far less.

Different healthcare delivery systems work differently but they are all not counting on patients settling their full bills. Persistence is key. They will negotiate and you can get the bill down considerably and in some cases even waived. I'm sorry this is the system we exist in but I hope this helps.

And wellness checks can result in cops murdering you.

Cool country 😂

Awful joke (cw/self harm)

Yeah this is one of the more malicious things out there, those numbers are a fucking trap. I called one for a friend when I was a teenager and noped the fuck out after they kept trying to trick me into telling me where they lived. It left me extremely disillusioned. At one point the woman on the phone asked me "okay so what do you want me to do?" when I refused to give them an address. I don't fucking know! I'm a confused teenager who is worried about my friend! You're the one who should fucking tell me!

The Navy ad at the bottom kinda just brings it all together tbqh.

AmericasNavy

Holy fucking ACAB and that often includes doctors

This is why I would never again ever, EVER, tell anyone I was suicidal, no matter how much I thought I needed help. I've been to a "mental hospital" twice in my life for suicidal attempts/ideation and if that doesn't make you want to actually pull it off then nothing will.

They are the opposite of helpful and then when you get cut loose you'll be stuck with withdrawals for whatever medication they chose to force on you, and then they slap a few thousands dollars in bills on you that they know you already couldn't afford.

But the libs told me that there was no coercion in capitalism and it's all based on voluntary transactions!

Sounds like I'd be more likely to cw myself after the whole ordeal instead of being convinced life is worth living... Not saying one should, but damn it's so backwards.

I was in a psyche ward for about a week and a half and it was a terrible experience. They'll give you drugs which you're not in there long enough to know if they work and since you've missed a week of work you longer have a job to afford them anyway once you're out. I was homeless and all they could offer was that I should just go back to live with my abusive parents and I finally had to just lie and say I was all better now, just tell them whatever I thought they wanted to hear to finally let me out.

Incredible how American hospitals can just copy their business model from Asian tourist scams, and also have it enforced by law. No need to hire triads. An actual infinite money glitch, if you can live with yourself harassing suicidal people.

Topic detected: Mental health, su@cide, self harm.

Subject matter AD match identifed.

America's Navy - PROMOTED

Fucking classy

locked post is so very "reddit mod"

Man if the fucking hotline is working with the cops like this that is all it is doing, it fundamentally cannot accomplish the goal of actually helping people while this is the case. What kind of sickos must work those lines? “Ok honey it’s ok, don’t do anything extreme, your life is valuable ok?” Mutes mic “911 bag em and tag em” unmutes “ok now can you confirm for the record you are suicidal?”

Reminds me I called one of these lines once and it was super sketchy how they dug for personal info. This was so long ago they probably couldn’t quickly map the number to a person too.

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This is why i never called a hotline (which i dont recommend, if you are feeling like youre going to hurt yourself there are hotlines that dont involve police)

Hellcountry

one of my most formative experiences was having the cops show up while i was having an "episode." Their ideal solution to deal with the person crying and smoking a cigarette was to show up squad deep and point AR15s at me. Always been this way.

Don't pay it. What are they gonna do, lol.

death to fucking america

List I found of hotlines and warmlines that don't call police

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The America’s Navy ad at the bottom complements this post very nicely

Everybody who isn't a normie dipshit already knew this.

I'm not sure I believe it. You would be evaluated and either discharged or committed to the psych ward within the first day, you wouldn't be kept in emergency in-patient.