If diagnosed are there any legal implication's

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Does anyone know if people do get diagnosed are there any legal implication's, does it make it hard to get private medical insurance for say myself and/or my children? some one ask me this question in NZ and was not 100% sure on answer so hoping someone here can help...

Most insurance companies exclude autism and "autism related conditions" though some states are passing legislation mandating coverage. My concern is how broadly they might intrepret "autism related conditions."

It varies from country to country. You need to check locally, with the Medical Insurance 'authorities'.

deleted my post to protect myself. posted too much.

Last edited by ooohprettycolors on 19 Feb 2008, 4:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I don't know New Zealand law so I don't know what's what with legal stuff for Kiwi Aspies, but probably nothing negative.

I almost got denied by Kaiser because I had a record of taking SSRIs that they perscribed to me years ago. I really didn't even want to go on them to begin with. After writing them two letters detailing how I'm no longer on the stuff, and I am mentally healthy without taking anything, they finally accepted me if a bit reluctantly. They were the ones that put me on it!! I didn't know any better back then, I was just a kid.

I am avoiding getting an official DX because it goes on a medical record.

Insurance companies all have a clause about 'pre-existing' conditions and will take any chance they can to increase your policy price due to that.

So while it is unlikely insurance will refuse you because of AS, they will certainly make you pay more than you should.

While you can think your doctor is not going to reveal the information to the insurance company, it will be revealed to other medical practitioners if you ever need to be hospitalized for any reason (even if not related to AS)...

...and once its in the hands of a hospital and in the hands of the massive bureaucracy behind it, it will get into the hands of the insurance company and your policy can be canceled because it breaches the insurance agreement or your rates get increased. Therefore it is better to not have any official DX from a doctor so there is no paper trail to it and technically your condition then does not qualify as 'pre-existing'.


For example, every male in my family has had hereditary high blood pressure. Not the bad kind but just a bit below the first level of hypertension. My grandpa and my father both have had to take a very low dose blood pressure medicine since they were teenagers to keep it at normal blood pressure levels.

I had this too but my blood pressure was never fully diagnosed since one trip to the doctor was fine, another was prehypertension level, another was fine.. etc.

After being in the US for a year and my insurance not listing high blood pressure as a diagnosed condition (though I knew I had it) I went new doctor after moving to Orlando and got the high blood pressure diagnosed (by then it had reached the level of my grandpa and my dad..as in I had to take medication for it).

The insurance company said that was fine, it was not a pre-existing condition so no rate increase.

A few years later, when I had to change insurance company and the new insurance company told me 'too bad this is a pre-existing condition since it is diagnosed before you joined our insurance, you must pay X much extra'

It really depends on the consequences of getting DXed. The DX by itself is fine, but when you get (for example) a senior medical officer taking that DX, and a biased interpretation of it's effects (the negatives that is) and putting it on file that you can't work - that changes everything!

I have several labels (autism, Asperger's, OCD, PTSD, clinical depression (obviously), et cetera), and I've never run into any problems here (QLD, Oz).

I have private medical insurance too (not that it's really needed at all here, but I prefer to choose surgeons if I need surgery--as well as private psychiatric hospitals that are a million times better than public).

Yeah well I wouldn't touch the public system in Queensland with a ten foot pole, Daniel!

Amen to that.

I'm afraid you're incorrect here. Most insurance companies will now refuse to insure privately anyone on the autism spectrum. Quite simply, unless you get your insurance through an employer and have no fear of having to buy privately, I think it's too dangerous to get an autism spectrum diagnosis. You can't afford to be without health insurance, and you can't get it for any amount of money if you have an ASD on your medical records.


Please, please, please be careful if you're going to do this. It's effectively fraud. If you don't disclose a condition you have that would otherwise cause you to be denied insurance or have your premiums increased, you're opening yourself to being sued by your insurance company if they find out you lied at a later date.

US healthcare is a mess right now. While simply increasing your premiums a bit might have been your concern a few years ago, things are becoming far more draconian very, very quickly. The system badly needs reform.

I totally wouldn't pursue a diagnosis at present (although given I do have an OCD diagnosis on my medical records, I'd probably be denied private insurance anyway).

actually, the stuff I read on here makes me more and more grateful for the good old, bad old NHS (UK). I wouldn't go as far as to say that it was any good, but at least it's there, and it's free, and getting a diagnosis wasn't as bad as everyone said it would be. And I was able to pursue that diagnosis without any insurance worries plaguing me.

Hmm I am based in the UK too and considering getting a diagnosis but I am worried about the knock on effect because the companies that I work for often have medical insurance with them. This is becoming more common in the UK these days. I still use NHS facilities but for little things that I want done faster I'll use my companies private medical care. Say for instance I hurt myself at work well I can use private treatment and be receiving treatment within a few days whereas typically NHS appointments can be months down the line. But if I don't disclose pre-existing conditions such as AS the insurance company would be within their rights to invalidate my insurance.

Last edited by aries on 21 Feb 2008, 6:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Autism aid is back on the table (The Record)

BY ELISE YOUNG
STAFF WRITER

New Jerseyans with autism would gain a government advocate, insurance coverage for promising treatments and help with living arrangements under a second wave of legislation detailed Wednesday.

In all, Assembly leaders say, they will propose six bills to support adults and children diagnosed with the neurological disorder. A similar effort in 2007 resulted in an eight-bill package -- signed by Governor Corzine -- that added millions of dollars for research, among other initiatives.

"This is Round 2, building on what we did last year," Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, D-Camden, a sponsor of both bill packages, told The Record. "We really have to have a multidimensional approach to how we tackle it."

more...

Isn't New Jersey one of the most tolerant and understanding states of the US when it comes to ASD's? This backs it up in my book!