Health Insurance Question

[nonsequitor]

SWIM was thinking about going to a doctor and trying to get some ADD medication (ideally Adderall). The problem is, SWIM is under SWIM's parents' health insurance until SWIM turns 25 and SWIM's parents would not be down with SWIM taking ADD meds. SWIM was wondering if the names of medicines prescribed would should up on SWIM's partents' bill/history? SWIM knows very little about how health insurance works, since SWIM is a student and has never had SWIM's own policy.

[TheFonz]

There is a 1-800- number on the back of the card. Call them and they can answer that question for SWIY..... As far as SWIM would guess though, that would be a violation of HIPAA, since he/she is over 18yo. and would not happen.


SWIY should call the insurance company just to be 100% sure though....Goodluck

[phillylocal]

One of my friends tried to go to a doctor to get prescribed adderall, and was told there that he had to get a recommendation from his GP. That might be a good place to start.

[staples]

SWIY is allowed to buy his own insurance policy before turning 25, it'd just be ridiculously expensive, from what I understand.

I went to a doctor without my parent's knowledge and went on as many as 4 or 5 prescriptions at a time. I was in very much the same situation, with health coverage coming from my parents, but I didn't even think about it at the time, I didn't even live with my parents. I know from talking to my sister that my mom noticed something was different, because upon reviewing some document, my mom asked my sister if she had changed or gone on any other medications, but my mom could not tell what the insurance was being used to cover or for whom (of course, I let her know at this point out of courtesy).

I don't see what your parents can really do to prevent you from using their insurance to cover doctor visits or medication besides taking measure that could endanger your health (would they really do that to their own kid?), but without insurance, generic adderall doesn't cost a ridiculous amount (depending on which generics, I've heard $30-$40 from some friends who do not have insurance to cover it).

Also, at least at my University, there's the option for a somewhat cheap health insurance for students, as well as very cheap health attention from an on-campus health center or free attention at an on-campus counseling center (for psychiatric needs), but they cannot prescribe ADHD medication.

As TheFonz said, you can call the insurance company and just ask.

Originally Posted by phillylocal

One of my friends tried to go to a doctor to get prescribed adderall, and was told there that he had to get a recommendation from his GP. That might be a good place to start.

What kind of doctor did your friend go to? If a doctor is going to require a recommendation for use of psychoactive medication, I would think s/he would require the recommendation be from a psychiatrist or at least a psychologist, but general practice??

[phillylocal]

Well, I think my buddy went to the same doc that I have (on my recommendation, because my doc and I get along well and have worked well together to diagnose and correct my ADD), who is a Pediatric Neurologist. I still go to him because we do so well together.

Nevertheless, my buddy was told to go to his General Practitioner to get a recommendation for ADD evaluation because this specific office is flooded with pill seekers. I don't think he's gotten a rec yet, so my pet flamingo gives him a few pills whenever he needs them for exams and stuff.

However, if someone is currently going to a psychologist/psychiatrist, i'm fairly certain that they could give a rec too. In fact, SWIM went to a psychiatrist for a few visits one time, and actually offered to write an alternate Adderall script (which SWIM declined...believe it or not!).

[staples]

Originally Posted by phillylocal

Well, I think my buddy went to the same doc that I have (on my recommendation, because my doc and I get along well and have worked well together to diagnose and correct my ADD), who is a Pediatric Neurologist. I still go to him because we do so well together.

Nevertheless, my buddy was told to go to his General Practitioner to get a recommendation for ADD evaluation because this specific office is flooded with pill seekers. I don't think he's gotten a rec yet, so my pet flamingo gives him a few pills whenever he needs them for exams and stuff.

However, if someone is currently going to a psychologist/psychiatrist, i'm fairly certain that they could give a rec too. In fact, SWIM went to a psychiatrist for a few visits one time, and actually offered to write an alternate Adderall script (which SWIM declined...believe it or not!).

Sorry, is "rec" short somehow for prescription?

I still find it a bit odd that the neurologist wanted your buddy to see a general practice doctor for an ADHD evaluation, isn't the neurologist a bit more qualified to assess a neurological problem? I'm not sure how your buddy can make an appointment with this doctor, yet the doctor is still too flooded with pill-seekers to give him an assessment? Isn't that what an appointment is--an agreement to set aside time for the particular patient? And wouldn't it be easier to fool a general practice doctor into falsely diagnosing ADHD, thus making it easier if someone were seeking pills, rather than addressing that problem?

Psychiatrists can certainly prescribe medication, psychologists cannot (at least, typically, because one does not need a medical license to become a psychologist). Generally, a psychologist is supposed to assess you first, and then decide whether you need medication or if therapy alone would be enough. Out of curiosity, what do you mean by "alternative" Adderall script? or are you saying the doctor was prepared to write SWIY a prescription even though SWIY was already prescribed? Would SWIY's insurance allow SWIY to fill it if he had recently filled his normal prescription? Declining seems like the logical/healthy thing to do...

[nonsequitor]

Thanks for all the information. It seems as though SWIM can get Adderall w/o the specific prescription ever appearing on SWIM's parents' insurance statement, so SWIM can just say the bill was for something else.

SWIM has never been to a psychiatrist...so you guys think a GP would prescribe Adderall? SWIM can't afford SWIM's own insurance because SWIM is a broke college student and soon will be a broke law school student. SWIM definitely doesn't have ADD (which is why SWIM's parents can't find out), but SWIM likes Adderall for studying and recreational purposes, and is tired of paying 5 dollars a pill for it to support SWIM's supplier's heroin addiction by purchasing the pills he is prescribed.

[GForce]

If you're over the age of 18 all interactions between you and your doctor are strictly confidential. Patient rights are taken very seriously in the United States and I can remember being offered confidentiality even before I was 18 because it is the ethical thing for doctors to do. Doctors aren't allowed to release your information to anyone without your written consent unless they believe you're a danger to yourself or someone else. I would think that the extent to which doctor/patient confidentiality is enforced would imply that similar policy exists to keep your information safe with insurance companies. I'm still on my parents' policy and have been for a while and the insurance company never received any type of consent form from me to just print what prescriptions I receive and doctors I see in a regular billing statement. I have to believe that if your confidentiality is guarded with doctors it would be guarded with health care providers as well. Just because they don't need a medical license to practice doesn't mean the industry lacks its own set of rules, ethics, and standards that must be followed if a company wants to keep their insurance license. Printing patient information in mail would be an extremely reckless breach of personal security because it isn't hard to steal someone's mail. Also, I've never heard of a policy that fluctuates co-pays based on the amount of prescriptions you receive. As far as I know, the pharmacist faxes the perscription along with your information to the insurance company and they verify that they cover the meds and that you're a customer of theirs. You pay the co-pay, and the insurance company pays the pharmacy the balance. There would be no reason to print every filled prescription unless you had some messed up insurance policy that billed you a higher premium for using more services, but that's what a co-pay is for. I've never heard of actual insurance premiums being effected by doctor visitation and treatment habits so I couldn't imagine an instance where it would be necessary and important enough to inform the customer of all prescriptions filled.

[phillylocal]

Originally Posted by staples

Sorry, is "rec" short somehow for prescription?

I still find it a bit odd that the neurologist wanted your buddy to see a general practice doctor for an ADHD evaluation, isn't the neurologist a bit more qualified to assess a neurological problem? I'm not sure how your buddy can make an appointment with this doctor, yet the doctor is still too flooded with pill-seekers to give him an assessment?

Ok so here's how it is...lots of people go to that place just to score a script for adderall, and so as a "filtering" mechanism, they make you get a "rec" (recommendation) from a GP to have an evaluation there.

Further, my buddy didn't even make it into the doctors office. As far as I know, he went into the place, asked to make an appointment to see the doctor and the lady asked if he had a "referral/recommendation" from his GP...personally, I thought this was crazy, because when I had originally visited this same doctor a few years previously, I had no problems getting an appointment w/o visiting a GP...but then again, I was really young and with my parents and stuff.

Originally Posted by staples

Isn't that what an appointment is--an agreement to set aside time for the particular patient? And wouldn't it be easier to fool a general practice doctor into falsely diagnosing ADHD, thus making it easier if someone were seeking pills, rather than addressing that problem?

Yes, I'm sure it would be pretty easy to fool a GP into falsely diagnosing ADHD, but he/she would not be the doc to prescribe the medication. He would give a referral to see a neurologist. It's a convoluted process, but adderall abuse is rampant in my area, and I *suppose* this is a measure to help reduce the abuse.

Originally Posted by staples

Out of curiosity, what do you mean by "alternative" Adderall script? or are you saying the doctor was prepared to write SWIY a prescription even though SWIY was already prescribed? Would SWIY's insurance allow SWIY to fill it if he had recently filled his normal prescription? Declining seems like the logical/healthy thing to do...

That's exactly what I'm saying...the Psychiatrist offered to prescribe me a NEW adderall script, even though I was already prescribed. He obviously didn't know when I had filled my last script and I think he was just being helpful. I don't get the impression that he liberally prescribes pills because he seemed pretty heistant to prescribe me a little ambien for my trip to Europe.

I don't know how my insurance would have treated the matter. The one I am currently on probably woud not have allowed it because I just send all my scripts to the health insurance company and they send me my pills in the mail.