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Archive for the ‘Health And Fitness’ Category

Second Thoughts? You Bet You Should Have Them Before Using Health Insurance to Cover Counseling

22 Oct



To call it insurance benefits may be a lie. In the end, like a casino, the insurance company will benefit much more than you, even though you’re the one paying to play.

Most people these days think twice before submitting a claim to repair damage to their car after an accident, especially if it is not that much damage. Filing a claim from an auto accident can damage you with the insurance company because they may raise your rates for using the insurance you’ve been paying for.

Filing a claim to have your counseling covered can be even more damaging to you and your future

I. Some mental health issues make your rates go up or even be the cause to deny you coverage in the future.

II. All information collected about you and your family by your counselor can end up in insurance companies’ databanks. There are three or four of these national databanks to which all insurance companies funnel data on their clients and their claims. Future claims or applications for coverage with any insurance company will use this information to determine your insurability. This includes car insurance, life insurance, additional health coverage and disability insurance. Security clearance procedures also have access to this personal data on you.

III. Your privacy and confidentiality rights can be violated once you give permission to release personal information to your insurance company. You have no control over how this information will be used.

IV. Mental health counseling records are stigmatizing. Job recruiting and promotion processes often ask if you have had counseling or mental health treatment. Insurance claims obviously establish paper trail evidence that cannot be denied. This may seem illegal, but many interviews solicit this information and are not reprimanded. Once it becomes known that you have had certain struggles in your life such as alcohol abuse, sexual issues or depression, you can become discriminated against in negative and harmful ways.

Word to the wise: give it a second thought before you establish an official record with your insurance company by filing a mental health counseling claim. There are many alternatives including negotiating a lower rate with your counselor that you can manage out of pocket. Many agencies use sliding scales to establish counseling fees.

Better to take out a loan than to hawk your future privacy and success.

 
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Plastic Surgery – Consider Your Insurance Provider For Funding

13 Aug



If your goal is to get plastic surgery sometime soon, you are probably busy saving up money for it. After all, most procedures are not covered by insurance. However, before you put it all on a credit card or take a loan to get work done on your face or body, you should double check with your insurance carrier, as more procedures than you may think are in fact covered.

The main requirement is to be able to prove that it is medically necessary. Breast reductions are one type of plastic surgery that most know are covered. If you are considering this procedure, you just need to prove to your carrier that your overly large chest makes your back hurt. If your bra straps cut into your shoulders and leave indentations, or you have become overweight because you cannot exercise with your oversized breasts, just let your insurance company know. You will likely be able to get the funding so that you do not have to pay to become comfortable.

There are other procedures that are less known about, but are usually covered. For example, if you want an eyelid operation just to look younger, you will have to pay for it. However, if you need this because your brows are now drooping into your eyes, blocking your vision so that you can no longer safely drive, it is a dangerous condition that needs to be taken care of. Therefore, it is likely medically necessary for you to get this type of plastic surgery.

Some children have a condition that they are born with in which one or both ears are smaller than average. It is called microtia, and it often also affects hearing since the inner ear is not usually properly formed. Most children get it corrected with plastic surgery while they are young, but if you still have this issue, it might be covered by insurance. If you cannot hear because it is so oddly formed, you may have a case for getting it paid for, or at least the part that fixes the inner ear.

These are just a few procedures that are often considered necessary and can be funded. Of course, if you have these or other issues, you should call your insurance company to find out who will pay for the plastic surgery. The worst they can say is no, but they may offer you alternatives. For example, sometimes you might not get it fully paid for, but the agency might cover some since part of it would help your health out. It is often worth asking about.

 
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