Listing anxiety and/or depression on ins. claim forms??
I am wondering whether it is a bad idea, when filling out health care insurance claim forms, to write down "depression" or "anxiety". In the past, I had an insurance co. that said they would not cover me for anything related to depression (after going to a therapist for several months) or related to my knees (after seeing an orthopedic surgeon for a minor knee problem -he gave me some exercises to do). This was so frustrating! Why do we have insurance if they won't cover our health problems??!
Anyway, I switched to Blue Shield of CA some years ago. I have had lots of therapy over the years, but since my experience with the other company, I have paid for all my therapy out of pocket, without claiming it. In fact, with my depression overwhelming me, I have not submitted any claims for several years, and now I am taking on that task. Neither my current doctor nor my chiropractor submits their own claims to insurance, and I have seen both of them quite a bit. I noticed last night that my doctor had written the code for anxiety on several of the forms. I don't know if she has ever put down the code for depression. I believe that she has often just written the code for something more minor that I was also being seen for, and avoided coding mental health labels.
Have any of you had good or bad experiences with telling the truth to your insurance in the last few years? Anyone specifically with a Blue Shield of CA PPO? I am wondering if I should just bite the bullet and not ask for payment on these. So that I will have coverage in the future if something really catastrophic happens with my mental health. Though I actually don't expect it to.
Re: Listing anxiety and/or depression on ins. claim forms??
My doctor and therapist submits their own claims to my insurance. If I had to submit my claims I would be careful about not misrepresenting the purpose of my visits as I would not want to be charged with insurance fraud.
I'm not familiar with Blue Shield of CA. Do they have any coverage for mental health services? And do they allot a certain number of days for inpatient treatment each fiscal year? If there's a possibility Blue Shield will cover your doctor and chiropractor visits I think it would be worth looking into as opposed to paying for everything out of your own pocket.
Re: Listing anxiety and/or depression on ins. claim forms??
Wow, do I feel ridiculous! I am normally sooo law-abiding and honest. I guess I just felt so burned by the last company, and their dishonesty in saying they would cover my health care, that I threw that out the window. In my defense, I was thinking more of sins of omission (not asking them to pay for something that is mental health-related) as opposed to sins of commission (lying on claims forms). However, it may be that the fine print asks that ALL health care visits be submitted. I will have to look at it.
Re: Listing anxiety and/or depression on ins. claim forms??
Hi i read your post and i just wanted to give my opinion on what to do about the disabilty papers. I most defineitly WOULD put ALL of the info on there about the depression/anxiety even if my insurance only covered half of it or none of it. Thr reason i say this is i wouls want the disability board to know UP FRONT about ALL of my problems because they could come back to you later and say well you didnt mention this the first time around so why should we consider it now?I mean all they can do is say no by you putting it ALL of the information on there.Better to be safe than sorry... I hope you will keep us posted.Hope i have helped you some.Until next time TAKE CARE!!!
Tinkerbell45
The Following User Says Thank You to tinkerbell45 For This Useful Post: madrona1 (10-16-2011)
Re: Listing anxiety and/or depression on ins. claim forms?? 
