In Your Right Mind

What can people do when they can no longer afford quality health insurance? We discuss the options that people have when they are at risk of falling through the cracks with Jay Horowitz, the founder and owner of Horowitz and Associates Insurance Agency, and two patients who discuss the vital role that Sovereign Foundation played in helping them obtain needed insurance so they could receive life-saving treatment for mental health and addiction.

In this week’s show, the discussion about the misconduct of government prosecutors and targeted attacks on innocent people continues. Mark Godsey, a Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati and author of the book, “Blind Injustice” and leading attorney and activist globally in the Innocence Movement and Ohio Innocence Project and former New York City federal prosecutor who now protects innocent people who have been wrongfully convicted, Vijay Reddy Annappareddy, who was a victim of federal misconduct, and Joshua Greenberg, a Washington D.C. based lawyer who represented him in the retrial.

As a parent, what do you do when your teen starts acting out, drinking or using drugs or exhibiting other troubling behavior? One in five teens has a mental health issue such as conduct disorder, depression or substance abuse. To discuss mental, emotional and behavioral conditions that develop in teens, and how their treated with Dr. Anthony J. Mele, Sovereign Health’s Chief Clinical Officer, and White River Academy’s Program Director Justin Neilson.

The current health care system is failing a lot of families — premiums and deductibles are too high, and many services aren’t getting covered. One major problem is that many families have too high of an income to be eligible for subsidies, but too low to afford a good, comprehensive health insurance plan. To discuss how people are virtually falling through the cracks is Linda Quick, president of Quick Bernstein Connections Group and former president of the South Florida Hospital and Healthcare Association, Bernard Oakley, Sovereign Health’s Manager of Operations, and Cornelius, who shares his story of how he almost fell through the cracks, and how he was able to receive treatment.

A relatively new form of genetic testing called, pharmacogenetics, is being used to improve efficacy and reduce the adverse effects of psychiatric medications. To discuss what pharmacogenetics is and how it’s used in the behavioral health industry is Dr. Jay Lombard, the cofounder, Chief Scientific Officer and Medical Director at Genomind, and Dr. Stephen M. Stahl, an internationally renowned psychiatrist, researcher and professor of psychiatry with expertise in psychopharmacology.

This show focuses on Senate Bill 636, a new California bill that aims to ban some of the harmful practices in the addiction treatment and recovery industry — “patient brokering” and “pay-to-patient” by insurance companies. Guest includes Joan Borsten, the Co-Founder and Vice President of the Addiction Treatment Advocacy Coalition (ATAC) and the co-founder and former CEO of Malibu Beach Recovery Center.

Why does wine drinking by moms seem to be glorified more than ever before? For many women, their drinking ramps up soon after they have children. In this episode, hosts Dr. Tonmoy Sharma and Stefanie Wilder-Taylor explore the variety of reasons why mental health issues and problems with drinking can develop among new moms. Guests include Dana Bowman, the author of, “Bottled: A Mom’s Guide to Early Recovery” and the popular blog MomsieBlog.com and Dr. Susan Blank, the Founder and Chief Medical Officer at the Atlanta Healing Center, President of the Georgia Society of Addiction Medicine and Advisory Board Member of the Georgia Physician’s Health Program.

“Patient brokers” are bad people who take advantage of vulnerable patients, by luring them in and out of treatment by bribes or financial incentives, so they can make a profit. While everyone agrees that “patient brokering” is harmful to patients and needs to be stopped, it is also true that there are people who are helping patients and their loved ones find a good treatment facility and expanding their access to services that meet their needs. To discuss this topic, we’re joined by guests: Audrey Smith, Harry Nelson, Jamie Callahan, Melissa Mucci and Desiree Raucci.

Broad search warrants, botched raids and knowingly concealing information or evidence to win a case are only some examples of unethical and deceptive behavior of government prosecutors and violations of our constitutional rights. To discuss the corruption in the criminal justice system, we’re joined by Sidney Powell, former Assistant U.S. Attorney and Appellate Section Chief who worked in the Department of Justice for 10 years, and author of the book, “Licensed to Lie,” and Joshua L. Dratel, a New York City attorney and former board member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

It’s a dangerous trend—federal prosecutors have the power and authority to destroy a person’s company and reputation, but are falsely accusing innocent people of crimes they didn’t commit. To discuss growing concerns of “over-criminalization,” prosecutorial misconduct and the overall lack of accountability in the system, we’re joined by Cyril H. Wecht, M.D., J.D., an expert in forensic medicine and practicing forensic pathologist for the past 40 years, and Howard Root, retired CEO of Vascular Solutions, Inc., and author of the book, “Cardiac Arrest: Five Heart-Stopping Years as a CEO on the Feds Hit-List.”

This week’s show, we are joined by Doug Walter, J.D., associate executive director for government relations in the American Psychological Association Practice Organization and three of Sovereign Health’s patients to talk about how third-party premium payments can benefit patients in helping them get treatment for addiction and mental health problems.

For many people, what happens inside of a treatment facility is a mystery. Traditionally, getting help from a mental health or addiction treatment facility has been a very private, personal matter. When a person does decide to seek help, they often do not know what to expect. In this episode, we shed some light on what actually happens during the treatment process with Dr. Mary Berst, Sovereign Health of Palm Desert’s Associate Program Director, and a former patient who is now a lead house manager at Sovereign Health, Melissa Mucci.

Every year, millions of people require some form of addiction or mental health treatment. Yet, with the plethora of facilities and treatment options available out there, the next step to seek treatment for a substance use disorder or mental illness can feel daunting for many people. In this show, the many factors involved in choosing the right treatment facility are discussed with Sovereign Health’s Rancho San Diego Adolescent Facility Director Nora David, Certified Interventionist Professional Ken Seeley and a father, Cal Saul, who searched for and found care for his son who needed help.

What is a successful relationship? In Your Right Mind’s guest speakers try to answer the question many couples have strived for.

This show looks at Health Net’s failure to reimburse more than 100 treatment facilities in the state of California, and some of the other problems the insurance giant has created for the addiction treatment industry with special guests Harry Nelson, A.B., J.D., the founder and managing partner of Nelson Hardiman and board chair of the American Addiction Treatment Association (AATA), and Stampp Corbin, M.B.A., president of the American Treatment Advocacy Coalition (ATAC) and CEO of a behavioral health company called Toxicology Laboratory.