Mentally Ill Riders Cite Bus Fare Rule as Hardship

Mentally ill bus riders in Orange County say obtaining reduced-fare passes has grown increasingly difficult in the last two years, with many applicants rejected despite diagnoses of mental illness that qualify them for federal assistance.

Officials with the Orange County Transportation Authority insist they are just following federal guidelines by not accepting Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, cards as proof of disability--even though officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in Los Angeles, one of the largest transit agencies in the country, consider the card sufficient.

The issue--one that mobilized advocates when the stricter guidelines were first enforced in late 1996--has resurfaced with an impending bus fare increase. Starting in January, a five-day-a-week bus rider buying a pass each day will pay about $650 a year. With a reduced-fare card, the cost is $130.

“This is a matter we consider to be about life and death for the people who need this transportation,” said Mary-Evelyn Bryden, a longtime advocate for the mentally ill.

Bryden and others question the transit agency’s stance, saying its insistence on following the letter of the law puts a vulnerable population at risk. To qualify for reduced-fare cards, riders must have a Medicare card, an obvious physical disability or documentation from a physician that they suffer from a psychological illness that affects their ability to provide their own transportation. The transit agency says 1,214 reduced-fare cards have been issued to mentally ill riders.

“We are following what the law says we should follow,” said Jo An Case, OCTA’s manager of marketing and customer relations. “And we are in line with jurisdictions like San Diego and others.”

Case said county transit officials have agreed to take another look at the issue in coming weeks, although she said she was not sure what sort of compromise could be reached.

Mental health patients say a change is desperately needed. The process now is arduous, they say, and it is difficult to understand why fellow patients with identical diagnoses qualify immediately if they have a Medicare card.

Medicare and SSI are both Social Security Administration programs to aid the elderly and disabled. Individuals qualify for Medicare if they are over 65 or have a permanent disability and have been employed for a certain amount of time. An adult who became disabled as a child also qualifies under a parent’s work history. Supplemental Security Income is a similar program for those who have not been employed long enough.

“The most disabled people haven’t worked enough to qualify for Medicare,” said Glenn Watkins, a mental health patient who has lobbied the transit authority to change the rule. “Some of us are making the choice between eating or paying for a bus trip. It makes a big difference to pay less.”

Patients and doctors both say the required paperwork leads to setbacks. Some applicants have been rejected several times because the wording from their doctor did not match the agency’s specifications, Watkins said.

“It’s a barrier. Another barrier to get up, and over,” said Donald Sharps, a psychiatrist who has practiced in Orange County for 11 years. “We’re talking about a cost-effective safety net here. If you make it hard for these people to get on a bus, they can’t get to treatment. We’ll catch up with them later when they don’t make appointments or stay on medication or pay rent.”

Sherrill Martin, staff advocate for Mental Health Advocacy in Los Angeles, said the MTA agreed a decade ago to accept SSI cards as proof of disability after she and others argued that it was the fair thing to do.

“It’s ridiculous to make people go through this process when a disability decision has already been made,” said Martin, who has worked with Orange County groups to help persuade transit officials to change the standards. “From a common-sense standpoint, it is the right thing to do, and the transit people in Los Angeles saw that.”