Adderall

[Mother764]

In answering insurance applications, is taking adderall considered a mental disorder?

[JSGeare]

Taking medication, in and of itself, is NOT a mental disorder. But the ins comp. will look up the drug and see what it is used for, and THAT might get some attention -or not.

[fuzzy882]

That is a good question!  I have delt with ins. co's, and just as JS said, it will and does raise a big red flag.  I'm not saying that it is a cause for rejection in all cases, but questions?? OH YEA..

[greenlydia]

(Crikey! Where's Ryan when we need him!)

What the GWO, (great wise one) JSGeare said, taking medication in and of itself, is NOT a mental disorder. But what else he said is very true, the insurance company WILL look it up in their book.
I am not a pharmacist, but I do have some fairly heavy duty resources here at my little desk in the corner. Unfortunately, they have left me confused.........(refer back to "lack of a pharmacological degree") I looked up "Adderall" in my 2007 edition of "Pharmacology for Nursing Care," and found that it is a CNS (central nervous system) stimulant. More commonly known as an amphetamine and which is used most frequently in the treatment of ADHD and narcolepsy. In my Mosby's Nursing Drug Reference book, Adderall is listed, not in the index, but in Appendix h. Under uses, it simply says, "CNS stimulant." This then made me wonder if we had the correct drug name, so I went to appendix i, which contains a long list of "look-alike/sound-alike" meds and found, across from Adderall..........INDERAL. Then I flipped back and forth between my books and found that INDERAL has yet another name, which is propranolol. Both books tell me that THIS drug is used to treat hypertension.
So, my question is: Do you have high blood pressure or do you have ADHD or some other CNS disorder?
If you have hypertension, which is controlled, I would GUESS, (and that is ALL it is) that your insurance company would be OK with that since millions of folks have both insurance AND high blood pressure. I have no idea how they would look at someone with ADHD even if it IS controlled.
But your question was, "would the ins. company look at the med. and consider it a mental disorder?"
So, before we can even begin to tell you that we can't answer your question because nobody knows how insurance companies think, we need to figure out if we are on the same page as to exactly which med you ARE taking.
Wow..........what just took me 45 minutes to (maybe) figure out, our Ryan would have won any number of Double Jeopardies! His shoes are waaaaay too big for me!
I'd say that I hope this helps, but I have grave doubts about that. If you could just check for sure the name of the med, then we could take another crack at it.
Peace
Greenlydia        

[RCA7591]

Those who are on a group plan through an employer have nothing to worry about. It is the individual health insurance market that you have to fear. Whenever possible, you should purchase an individial plan BEFORE you get sick. I cannot overstress this enough!

Typically, the "look back" period for pre-existing conditions is five years, and the "look-back" period for prescription drugs is twelve months. Generally, you must sign a waiver giving the insurance company the right to obtain your medical history and pharmacy history, as well as any past claims that were filed to your previous insurance carrier.

You cannot lie or omit material facts on the application. If you are caught (and you will be), instant rejection will result. If you are not caught, and a claim is filed (and you failed to mention the condition), they reserve the right to place an "exclusion rider" on that condition if they determine that it was pre-existing, which means that it will never be covered. They also reserve the right to terminate your policy as if it were never in effect.

Insurance companies have a list of declinable conditions that will lead to instant rejection and denial of issuing a policy. This list is highly variable among the various companies. BCBS will reject you for any "mental disorder", including anxiety and depression. Others are more forgiving, as they are in direct competition with BCBS.

Now, you take (or have taken) Adderall, which only has ONE indication - ADHD. If you are applying through BCBS, you may as well stop now. My recommendation would be to locate a local health insurance AGENT, who will have access to many different health insurance carriers. Their services are FREE to you. The agent will be able to work with you on obtaining coverage. I would also strongly suggest that you request a written letter from your physician to send along with the application - outlining the indication for Adderall, its impact on your quality of life, as well as any proposed future treatments.

Individual health insurance plans are medically underwritten, and in most states, a 12-month exclusion period is placed on pre-existing conditions that occurred five years prior to the policy effective date, provided those conditions are disclosed. If the condition is on the carrier's declinable condition list, your local agent can have an exclusion rider placed on that condition in most cases - which means that it will never be covered. If ADHD is on the list, and an exclusion rider is placed on the condition, this bars you from coverage of ANY mental disorder, as well as prescription drug coverage for ANY mental disorder.

The underwriter will also look at any other pre-existing conditions, and will assign an overall risk factor to you. This risk factor will be compared to other individuals in your age bracket, and the policy premium will be adjusted accordingly (25-50% of the preferred premium rate for your age bracket). For instance, if your have high blood pressure (controlled or uncontrolled) and take Adderall (a stimulant/amphetamine), your assumed risk would be higher, as Adderall raises blood pressure. Your premium rates would then be adjusted accordingly (25-50% increase).

This is a mere sample of the underwriting process. I would recommend consulting with a health insurance agent to explore all of your options, and to secure the best premium rate.

For those following this thread with interest, below is a common list of declinable conditions that a typical insurance underwriter would use to deny issuing a policy:


A
AIDS
Alcohol Abuser - diagnosed, associated with other drug abuse, medical disease, three or more DWI's or more than one detox hospitalization
Alzheimer's Disease
Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)
Aneurysms
Angina
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Aortic
     Insufficiency
     Stenosis - if surgically repaired or valve replaced
Aplastic Anemia
Arterial
     Embolism (clot)
     Occlusion
Arteriosclerosis Obliterans (A.S.O.)
Arteriovenous Malformation - if multiple, large or located in a significant organ structure
Atherosclerosis
     Obliterans
     Thrombotic Disease
Atrial Fibrillation - chronic
Anxiety Disorder
Autism - in child

B
Bipolar Disorders

C
Cancer
Cardiomyopathy
Cerebral Palsy - child or dependent adult
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)- less than 45 years old, smoker, underweight with associated respiratory disorders or older than 45 and severe form
Cirrhosis of the Liver
Coarctation of the Aorta - surgically corrected with complications
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF)
Cor Pulmonale
Coronary
     Artery Disease (C.A.D.)
     Heart Disease (C.H.D.)
Curvature of the Spine - with pulmonary, cardiac