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Speaker 1: Welcome to Why Not Me? Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide?

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Speaker 1: Hosted by Tony Mantor, broadcasting from the heart of Music City, USA, Nashville, Tennessee.

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Speaker 1: Join us as our guests share their raw, powerful stories.

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Speaker 1: Some will spark laughter, others will move you to tears.

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Speaker 1: These real life journeys inspire, connect and remind you that

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Speaker 1: you're never alone. We're igniting a global movement to empower

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Speaker 1: everyone to make a lasting difference by fostering deep awareness

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Speaker 1: on wavering acceptance, and profound understanding of autism and mental health.

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Speaker 1: Tune in, be inspired, and join us in transforming the world,

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Speaker 1: one story at a time. I'm hi, I'm Tony Mantur.

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Speaker 1: Welcome to Why Not Me? Embracing Autism and Mental Health Worldwide.

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Speaker 1: This is our special event crafting justice, empowering autism and

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Speaker 1: mental health through legislation. Joining us today is Iowa State

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Speaker 1: Representative And Meyer. She's a passionate advocate for health and

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Speaker 1: human services as a registered nurse and chair of the

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Speaker 1: Health and Human Services Committee in Iowa's House District eight.

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Speaker 1: Representative Meyer brings a wealth of experience to the table,

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Speaker 1: championing policies that support individuals with autism and mental health challenges.

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Speaker 1: She's here to share her expertise on crafting impactful legislation

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Speaker 1: and offer insights on how we can unite to support

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Speaker 1: those that are desperately in need of help. It's a

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Speaker 1: pleasure to have her join us. Thanks for coming on.

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Speaker 1: Sure my pleasure, Yes, mine as well. So I understand

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Speaker 1: that you are a huge mental health advocate. Could you

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Speaker 1: expand on that sum.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I am so. I originally ran for office back

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Speaker 2: in twenty eighteen. So my background is, I'm a nurse.

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Speaker 2: I worked for the community college. I taught at the

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Speaker 2: clinicals at the bedside in the local hospital. And I

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Speaker 2: complained to my state senator, who was a friend, that

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Speaker 2: I didn't like some of the things I saw in

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Speaker 2: the hospital as far as regulations and taking people away

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Speaker 2: from the bedside, and so he just suggested, well, maybe

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Speaker 2: you should run for Iowah House representatives. And I was like, no,

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Speaker 2: I'm not going to do that. I approached him again,

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Speaker 2: he said, well maybe you should run again, not addressing

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Speaker 2: my issue. So my background is not mental health care,

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Speaker 2: it is, you know, adult healthcare. But when I was

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Speaker 2: knocking on doors, you can't believe how many people I

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Speaker 2: ran into that would sit and talk for twenty or

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Speaker 2: twenty five thirty minutes to a stranger the situations they

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Speaker 2: were having in their family and how sad and dire

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Speaker 2: the situations were, and they didn't feel they were getting

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Speaker 2: enough help.

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Speaker 3: So, while I was still focused on healthcare.

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Speaker 2: That really became a major focus of my work in theatre.

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Speaker 1: Yes, it is amazing. I don't have anything to do

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Speaker 1: with autism or mental health. I knew nothing about it

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Speaker 1: until I started this podcast. The amount of people that

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Speaker 1: will come on and tell me their stories and their journeys,

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Speaker 1: Like you said to a stranger, it's pretty amazing. It

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Speaker 1: just goes to show you that what they're going through

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Speaker 1: and the issues they have is still not addressed. That's

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Speaker 1: why they're willing to come on a podcast like this

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Speaker 1: and talk about it. So when you got elected, what

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Speaker 1: was one of the first things that you tried to

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Speaker 1: do so that you could help those people out that

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Speaker 1: you had seen.

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Speaker 2: What I found from people reaching out is we just

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Speaker 2: don't have enough access to care.

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Speaker 3: I mean people were waiting. If you have a.

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Speaker 2: Mental health crisis, you can't wait six months for an appointment.

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Speaker 2: So you know, honestly, your first year in the legislature

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Speaker 2: is fast and confusing. My leadership changed at the end

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Speaker 2: of twenty nineteen. Our speaker, Speaker Pat Grassley, he had

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Speaker 2: a situation in his district and where he grew up,

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Speaker 2: where a high school coach was shot by a shot

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Speaker 2: and killed by one of his former students. This was

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Speaker 2: everything that I was talking about was well supported by

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Speaker 2: the Speaker. So twenty twenty nineteen and twenty twenty were

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Speaker 2: my That was my first term. Twenty twenty one, I

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Speaker 2: was named the chair of Human Resource, which was Human

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Speaker 2: Resources back then now it's Health and Human Services, same committee.

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Speaker 2: I started seriously talking to him about what we need

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Speaker 2: to do to address the mental health crisis, and he

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Speaker 2: was completely one hundred percent supportive, as was everyone in

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Speaker 2: the legislature.

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Speaker 3: Because there's not a district in.

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Speaker 2: Iowa that our representatives have not heard about problems, whether

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Speaker 2: it's from families, but more importantly through not more importantly,

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Speaker 2: no one's more important than the family, but law enforcement.

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Speaker 2: All of their time is a lot of their time

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Speaker 2: is consumed with addressing mental health issues every day, and

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Speaker 2: sometimes it's the same person every day. They get calls

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Speaker 2: for the staff in the emergency room. Patients were just

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Speaker 2: backed up in the hallways because there was no place

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Speaker 2: to there.

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Speaker 3: Were no beds open. We have a hospital right now.

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Speaker 2: We have a forty nine bed hospital here in Fort Dodge,

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Speaker 2: and we did have a mental health unit when I

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Speaker 2: was practicing that closed in two thousand and eight.

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Speaker 3: That turned out to be a big loss our area.

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Speaker 1: I have former House of Representatives Patrick Kennedy and Tim

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Speaker 1: Murphy that have joined me to be part of the series.

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Speaker 1: They have their ideas and thoughts on what they think

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Speaker 1: should happen to may change. Everyone has a different approach

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Speaker 1: on what they think needs to happen for change. What

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Speaker 1: are your thoughts on the fundamentals that need to be

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Speaker 1: done to make this change so the people that need

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Speaker 1: it can actually get the help.

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Speaker 2: I think the most important thing is access to care,

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Speaker 2: and I think that there's a lot of different levels

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Speaker 2: of that. I think the number one issue is increasing

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Speaker 2: our providers. We've got to have more people to provide

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Speaker 2: the care so the patients can get in to see them.

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Speaker 3: That's one.

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Speaker 2: Definitely, more providers. As much as people don't like to

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Speaker 2: hear that patients do need probably more than thirty days treatment.

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Speaker 2: There are people out there that do you can't cure

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Speaker 2: mental illness, especially severe cases, in thirty days and just

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Speaker 2: expect the problem to be taken care of. So the

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Speaker 2: first thing we worked on we did a package of

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Speaker 2: four things. Back in I believe it was twenty one.

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Speaker 2: We increase the amount of training for psychiatrists. Iowa was

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Speaker 2: one of the lowest ratio per capita for psychiatry, so

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Speaker 2: we at University of Iowa, which is our taxpayer funded

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Speaker 2: medical school, we added twelve residencies for psychiatry and we're

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Speaker 2: just you know, that was four years ago when I

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Speaker 2: think that legislation passed. We're just now getting up to

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Speaker 2: the point where we're starting to fill those residencies because

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Speaker 2: it takes so long to get the federal red tape

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Speaker 2: to approve a graduate medical residency, So those are filling

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Speaker 2: up again. Once you get into the residency, you're still

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Speaker 2: going to need three or four more years before we

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Speaker 2: start putting out the doctors. We increased the amount of

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Speaker 2: loan repayment because we want to make sure that if

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Speaker 2: someone graduates and they are willing to practice in Iowa

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Speaker 2: as a psychiatrist or even a therapist, we want to

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Speaker 2: make sure that we're giving them incentives to stay in Iowa.

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Speaker 2: I mean, you said, you live in Nashville and you've

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Speaker 2: got some pretty good attractions and some pretty good weather.

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Speaker 3: We don't.

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Speaker 2: I mean, we're in Iowa. Iowa is a great quality

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Speaker 2: of life. We you know, know traffic, but we do

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Speaker 2: have to provide financial incentives to recruit people and retain people.

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Speaker 3: So we did that.

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Speaker 1: So I'm originally from Maine and I was talking with

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Speaker 1: somebody just the other day and they said, that's a

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Speaker 1: psychiatry issue is tremendously lacking in Maine. Now, Maine has

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Speaker 1: kind of the same thing that they're a out of

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Speaker 1: the way state. They're more rural, not a lot of cities.

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Speaker 1: Sounds to me like you've got a similar situation there.

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Speaker 1: So that's one step in getting them to practice there.

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Speaker 1: What's the next step to make it really work so

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Speaker 1: that you can see that difference that you're putting into

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Speaker 1: it that's rewarding for everybody.

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Speaker 2: Well. Quality of life overall in Iowa is important. We

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Speaker 2: have lowered our income tax rate. We are now down

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Speaker 2: to a flat tax of three point eight, so that's.

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Speaker 3: More financial incentive.

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Speaker 2: The state invests a lot in the counties, especially the

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Speaker 2: county that I live in, not just especially. Other counties

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Speaker 2: are doing the same thing, but I can only speak

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Speaker 2: to my county. Webster County puts a lot of investment

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Speaker 2: into quality of life, you know, trails, outdoor activities for families,

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Speaker 2: indoor activities for families. But quality of life is very important.

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Speaker 2: So we talked about you know, we came from the

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Speaker 2: Detroit area and we lived fifteen to twenty miles from

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Speaker 2: both of my husband's hospitals, and he was driving an

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Speaker 2: hour and a half each way to and from work.

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Speaker 3: We don't have that here.

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Speaker 2: In Fort Dodge, which is a town of about twenty

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Speaker 2: six thousand.

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Speaker 3: I'm six minutes from the hospital here. My son was

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Speaker 3: in school.

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Speaker 2: He could leave in the middle of the day if

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Speaker 2: he wanted to for twenty minutes or a half hour

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Speaker 2: for a program. There was never a parent teacher conference

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Speaker 2: he had to miss. So that type of slower quality

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Speaker 2: of life I think is important.

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Speaker 1: I totally agree with you on the quality of life.

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Speaker 1: When you work in legislatures, it takes seems like the

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Speaker 1: clock ticks and nothing happens lots of times. How do

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Speaker 1: you speed that clock up so that some of the

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Speaker 1: things that you've put in place are a starting point

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Speaker 1: to help, but there are other things that you need

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Speaker 1: to do to open that door to broader things. So

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Speaker 1: how do you go about doing that?

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Speaker 3: It is a tour.

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Speaker 2: We introduced several good pieces of legislation, and I think

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Speaker 2: that you came to me through our in my opinion,

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Speaker 2: our number one mental health advocate in the state, if

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Speaker 2: not the country. She is always working for and she

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Speaker 2: works from personal experience because of the experiences she's had

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Speaker 2: with her son who is affected. She is literally tireless

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Speaker 2: and the best. We meet throughout the session, but when

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Speaker 2: we're meeting during the session, it is mostly just to

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Speaker 2: make sure we're reaching out to all of our members

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Speaker 2: to make sure they understand the legislation.

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Speaker 3: For instance, Ali.

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Speaker 2: Will tell you about a bill that I think could

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Speaker 2: have made a great deal of difference, and it passed

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Speaker 2: through the House unanimously.

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Speaker 3: If the Iowa House was ruling the world, it would

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Speaker 3: be great.

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Speaker 2: But we also have to work with the Senate, who

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Speaker 2: does not have my counterpart right now in the Senate,

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Speaker 2: and my counterpart last two assemblies in the Senate, I

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Speaker 2: did not have the healthcare experience, and I don't think

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Speaker 2: they had the issues in their family. So one piece

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Speaker 2: of legislation that I'll highlight that Leslie brought to us

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Speaker 2: this year was.

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Speaker 3: Something they're doing in other states.

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Speaker 2: It talks about after commitment, whether you're being committed for

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Speaker 2: mental health issues, that when you're committed, when it comes

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Speaker 2: down to commitment, remember it's a physician examination, it is

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Speaker 2: a court hearing, they're committed to a facility, and then

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Speaker 2: they're discharged.

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Speaker 3: I'm not saying that every.

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Speaker 2: Facility does this, and I especially don't think our state

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Speaker 2: facilities do this, but I have heard tell even in

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Speaker 2: my own town, that sometimes patients are just what we

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Speaker 2: call streeted after discharge, meaning they hand them their paperwork,

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Speaker 2: they hand them their phone numbers to call to make

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Speaker 2: follow up appointments, and there's no formal follow up to

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Speaker 2: actually make those appointments. This mandated that, this mandated everyone

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Speaker 2: who was discharged after a commitment was going to be

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Speaker 2: case managed either by our Medicaid program MCOs, which everyone

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Speaker 2: in MCO has a case manager, or our new behavior

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Speaker 2: Health system in the state, which that is supposed to

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Speaker 2: be coordinating care so everyone.

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Speaker 3: Throughout the state gets the same care. Past the House,

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Speaker 3: like I said, past.

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Speaker 2: Subcommittee past that regular Committee past. The House unanimously brought

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Speaker 2: it to the Senate. Talked to the Senator, He's like, yeah,

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Speaker 2: that does sound like a good idea. We made a

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Speaker 2: few changes to make it more palatable. We it initially

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Speaker 2: said also give them thirty days medication the hospitals, and

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Speaker 2: actually my husband told me we can't really discharge them

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Speaker 2: with that amount of medication because medications change.

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Speaker 1: So how did that affect the bill?

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Speaker 2: We actually took that part out because we do think

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Speaker 2: the case management is the most important part of follow

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Speaker 2: up care to make sure or that people can get

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Speaker 2: their medications, and medications can be paid for three they're

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Speaker 2: paid for by Medicaid, they're paid for it by private insurance,

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Speaker 2: and if they're not covered by either one of those, then.

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Speaker 3: That's when our state system kicks in.

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Speaker 2: Working with the Senate, as the Senator said, this would

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Speaker 2: be he likes it. We adjusted it to make it

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Speaker 2: more palatable, and it did not make it through their

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Speaker 2: what's called the legislative funnel over in the Senate.

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Speaker 3: So now I serve as the HHS Budget Chair.

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Speaker 2: If we have really good legislation that has been vetted

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Speaker 2: by the House and everyone agrees on, I would like

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Speaker 2: to put that legislation in our budget bill. And I

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Speaker 2: know everyone likes clean bills, but sometimes you need to

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Speaker 2: teck that kind of stuff on. It didn't make the

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Speaker 2: cut with my counterpart. And then there's a final bill

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Speaker 2: of the session. It's called standings and what people refer

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Speaker 2: to it as as a Christmas tree. Any policy that

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Speaker 2: didn't make it through, everyone wants to stick it in

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Speaker 2: the end of the years standings bill. I told my

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Speaker 2: leadership that was my number one priority is to get

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Speaker 2: that one bill through Standings, and because of whatever's going

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Speaker 2: on in the Iowa Senate right now, it didn't pass.

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Speaker 2: So the first year was introduced. A lot of bills

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Speaker 2: don't make it through on the first round. I will

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Speaker 2: go back and make that my first priority next year.

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Speaker 2: But I do think that follow up care is most

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Speaker 2: important thing when we're talking about patients.

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Speaker 1: When you run into people that don't understand because they

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Speaker 1: just don't have that lived experience, how do you gently

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Speaker 1: nudge them, twist their arm, whatever you need to do

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Speaker 1: to get them to understand that this bill is one

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Speaker 1: that not only covers your area, but it also covers

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Speaker 1: people in their area as well. If they can't get

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Speaker 1: that follow up healthcare they need. One of two things

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Speaker 1: is going to happen. Number one, they end up on

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Speaker 1: the street, or number two, they could end up incarcerated. Now,

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Speaker 1: if you look at just the sheer numbers, either one

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Speaker 1: of those things happen, it can cost the taxpayers millions

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Speaker 1: and millions of dollars. So why can't they just see

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Speaker 1: the numbers and then go from there to make this

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Speaker 1: thing right?

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Speaker 2: And that's exactly how I address it. When I can't

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Speaker 2: get the healthcare portion of it. I talk about their sheriffs,

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Speaker 2: and I talk about their law enforcement.

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Speaker 3: What are you hearing from them?

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Speaker 2: I try to have their law enforcement in their district

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Speaker 2: specifically reach out to them.

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Speaker 3: Just like you said, that's what we're looking at.

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Speaker 2: What would affect their lives, what would they consider important

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Speaker 2: to their constituents. I think the law enforcement part is

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Speaker 2: a big part of that, So I'll always.

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Speaker 3: Go toward that next.

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Speaker 2: And then back in twenty nineteen in Port Dodge, we

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Speaker 2: had a tragic incident. One of our Lutheran pastors, fabulous guys,

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Speaker 2: supported law enforcement. He was their chaplain for both fire

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Speaker 2: and police department, did ride alongs, tried to keep them.

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Speaker 3: His heart being in law enforcement.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it is.

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Speaker 2: He was in his church. It was five in the afternoon,

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Speaker 2: the door was locked. Someone knocked on the door. He

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Speaker 2: went out and opened it and it was a man

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Speaker 2: who the police knew who murdered him with the hammer,

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Speaker 2: and he just a strong, strong person in our community.

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Speaker 2: The police knew based on the camera. They knew who

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Speaker 2: it was because there was a camera at the door.

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Speaker 2: They went right to his apartment and arrested him. This,

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Speaker 2: in my opinion, could have been prevented with and nothing

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Speaker 2: against the police officers, but this man couldn't get the

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Speaker 2: help that he needed. And his mom said, I have

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Speaker 2: been trying and trying to get help through the system

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Speaker 2: for years before twenty nineteen, and this was the outcome.

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Speaker 2: So that's what I try to impress on people who

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Speaker 2: are not in healthcare. I always try to adjust it

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Speaker 2: through the law enforcement system, because again, all of our

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Speaker 2: districts have.

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Speaker 3: Issues like this.

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Speaker 2: Maybe not that one severe, but there are severe issues

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Speaker 2: out there like that. So that's how I try to

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Speaker 2: put it in their perspective.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's tough. I'm sure that can be difficult to

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Speaker 1: get across. Now, what about homeless do you have a

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Speaker 1: lot of homeless in your area. It's my understanding that

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Speaker 1: a high percentage of homeless have mental illness happening.

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Speaker 3: Yes, we do in Fort Dodge. I really can only

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Speaker 3: speak for our area, and I'm.

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Speaker 2: Not sure how prevalent homelessness is in the more rural areas,

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Speaker 2: and remember Iowa is more of a rural state. But

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Speaker 2: in our town, we have a great homeless shelter. It's

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Speaker 2: run very well, but it has rules. What goes hand

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Speaker 2: in hand with mental illness is substance abuse, and those

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Speaker 2: rules are you can't drink, you can't use drugs in there.

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Speaker 2: And so they choose not to have that bed and

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Speaker 2: those meals and that support, they'll be on the street.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, we do have an issue with that.

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Speaker 1: Now, when you're dealing with legislation, you have a set

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Speaker 1: back like this, what becomes of it? You mentioned that

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Speaker 1: you were going to try to reintroduce it next year,

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Speaker 1: So is there any way to make that clock tick

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Speaker 1: a little faster? Like you said earlier, these people that

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Speaker 1: need help, they can't go months and months without some

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Speaker 1: sort of support. If they don't get that, they can

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Speaker 1: spiral downward, and unfortunately that's when bad things can happen.

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Speaker 1: We have to find some way to have a plan

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Speaker 1: B that will give them a cushion. What's the next steps?

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Speaker 1: How do we go about getting that done.

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Speaker 2: There's not a whole lot I can do over the

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Speaker 2: interim except work with the other legislators and have our

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Speaker 2: advocates work with the other legislators to make sure they

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Speaker 2: understand what the issue is. And it's rare that a

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Speaker 2: bill that is introduced in the same session makes it

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Speaker 2: out of that session. It takes some more education, and

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Speaker 2: we'll keep doing that and I will keep working on that.

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Speaker 2: Although I will say back when we started in twenty

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Speaker 2: twenty one, when we increased the residency programs. During that year,

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Speaker 2: we also increased intensive psychiatric care rates to encourage hospitals

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Speaker 2: to take more patients. We do have empty beds in

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Speaker 2: the hospital. We just hear from our hospitals that they

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Speaker 2: don't have the staff to take care of them. So

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Speaker 2: we've got to build that foundation up and which we are,

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Speaker 2: which we have been for years.

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Speaker 3: That's it.

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Speaker 2: I think it's just more education and across the actually

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Speaker 2: across the rotunda.

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Speaker 3: It was supported unanimously.

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Speaker 2: And I think the reason it was supported unanimously is

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Speaker 2: because everyone in our Chamber has heard of these issues,

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Speaker 2: whether it's from families, hospitals, or law enforcement.

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Speaker 3: It's just more education, more people talking about it. On

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Speaker 3: that same bill next year, what would you like.

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Speaker 1: To tell the listeners that you think is very important

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Speaker 1: that they hear and understand. The unfortunate part is you

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Speaker 1: have a lot of people out there that just do

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Speaker 1: not understand how our government works. Lots of times they

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Speaker 1: will think that our government isn't working, that you're not

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Speaker 1: doing anything, when in reality, you're doing everything that you

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Speaker 1: can to pass laws that can help those that need

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Speaker 1: the help. So what would you like to tell them

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Speaker 1: so they can understand the process of what you're trying

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Speaker 1: to do to help those that you represent.

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Speaker 2: I'd like to tell them to reach definitely, reach out

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Speaker 2: to your legislator who is in your district, who do

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Speaker 2: you have the relationship with, even going back before that,

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Speaker 2: if you've got any issues, even if you don't have

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Speaker 2: an issue, make a connection with your local legislator, because

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Speaker 2: I know in Iowa we're all very accessible. I'm assuming

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Speaker 2: in the Midwest region it's the same. Establish that relationship

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Speaker 2: and then when you address them with the problem, they

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Speaker 2: know who you are and they can speak to their

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Speaker 2: legislator about that, and they have better luck with that.

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Speaker 2: I also think it shouldn't be just a mass email

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Speaker 2: to all of the legislators. I think it should be

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Speaker 2: I think personal stories help the best.

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Speaker 3: I am always.

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Speaker 2: Willing to meet with constituents during the interim, So we

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Speaker 2: just finish our session yesterday morning at six point thirty.

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Speaker 2: This is a part time job. It is a full

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Speaker 2: time job for most of us. We meet all year

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Speaker 2: round with constituents. That's where our legislation comes from. Basically,

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Speaker 2: that's where they address the problems. If we can address

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Speaker 2: the problem in back channels with the department, you know,

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Speaker 2: change some rules or you know, without legislation, Yeah, we'd

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Speaker 2: love to do that. But when we try that and

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Speaker 2: it doesn't work, then we have to write legislation. I

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Speaker 2: think the most important thing is to develop a relationship

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Speaker 2: with your legislator, and even if you are approaching them

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Speaker 2: with a problem for the first time, make it personal,

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Speaker 2: share their personal stories. Not like Iowa, it just doesn't

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Speaker 2: have enough bedforst like patients. Well, we all know that

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Speaker 2: we don't have enough. So I think that personal reach

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Speaker 2: out is good. I think a zoom meeting, a phone call.

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Speaker 2: Those are the things you can do. I always tell

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Speaker 2: people my cell phone is what's on the legislative website.

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Speaker 2: You can call me anytime. I will always call you back.

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Speaker 1: I think that's really good. Now, when you get into

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Speaker 1: some states, in some areas, you have assistance gatekeepers, so

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Speaker 1: to speak, you never can get in contact with your representative.

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Speaker 1: So how do you get past that and how do

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Speaker 1: you do that so you can form that relationship?

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Speaker 2: Okay, As an Iowa legislator, we don't have any gatekeepers.

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Speaker 2: We have a clerk during session that schedules meetings for us.

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Speaker 2: When I say meetings, I mean legislative meetings, Like they

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Speaker 2: schedule our committees and our subcommittees, and they do that

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Speaker 2: kind of thing. They may write our newsletters. I always

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Speaker 2: write my own newsletter. Honestly, in Iowa, we don't have that.

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Speaker 2: I don't think they have that in a break. I'm

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Speaker 2: not sure about Illinois. I'm honestly not sure about other states.

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Speaker 3: You know, when you're full time.

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Speaker 2: I think in Michigan are they full time in Michigan

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Speaker 2: and they do have local offices, I think you can

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Speaker 2: still request a meeting or a phone call with that person.

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Speaker 3: Because we are the closest thing.

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Speaker 2: The local legislators, state and state reps and state senators.

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Speaker 2: We're the closest thing you can do starting the ball rolling.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes total sense, because when you start talking

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Speaker 1: with the US representatives, House and senators. I've heard that

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Speaker 1: it can be a total nightmare.

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Speaker 2: That's the situation you were talking about. You don't talk

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Speaker 2: to your federal legislator. You talk to their subject expert

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Speaker 2: staff on that which I.

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Speaker 3: Don't mind that. I don't mind doing that, but I

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Speaker 3: want results.

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Speaker 2: Usually our local or our federal legislators in Iowa have

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Speaker 2: town halls all throughout out the state, so if you

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Speaker 2: really need to reach out to them, and what honestly,

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Speaker 2: they will probably do. They do have a lot more

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Speaker 2: constituents to take care of. They'll say, Okay, I'm going

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Speaker 2: to give you to Mike. He is my health and

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Speaker 2: human services policy experts. Give him your information and he

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Speaker 2: will get back to you with the information.

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Speaker 3: Another thing about Iowa state legislator, I will say, we

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Speaker 3: do write a lot of bills.

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Speaker 2: They most of them don't make it over the finish line.

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Speaker 2: But our year is filled with constituent work. I think

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Speaker 2: that's the most important work we do. Is constituent work.

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Speaker 2: If you are having a problem with getting your mental

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Speaker 2: health services covered by Medicaid or anything stayed insured, we

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Speaker 2: would be your first person to call and help with that.

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Speaker 1: Well, this has been great, tremendous information, great conversation. I

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Speaker 1: really enjoyed it. Thanks for taking time to be on

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Speaker 1: our show today.

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Speaker 3: I appreciate that. I appreciate you getting the word out

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Speaker 3: to everyone. It's my pleasure.

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Speaker 1: Thank you, It's been my pleasure. Thanks again. Thanks for

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Speaker 1: taking time out of your busy schedule to listen to

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Speaker 1: our show today. We hope you enjoyed it as much

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Speaker 1: as we enjoyed bringing it to you. If you know

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Speaker 1: someone who has a story to share, tell them to

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Speaker 1: contact us at whyomt World. One last thing, Spread the

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Speaker 1: word about why Not Me, our conversations, our inspiring guests,

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Speaker 1: the show. You are not alone in this world.