Are you on the "autism spectrum"? And if so, what are your + and - skills?

[Pablo]

No, the insurance companies don’t want to pay. That’s how they make bank. They want to remove coverage/benefits and just say take little John/Jane off sugar. Rub some dirt on it. Pick yourself up by your bootstraps. They would prefer to avoid paying for therapy/services/treatmeants. And most won’t pick up the psychoeducational evaluation. Imagine insurance not paying for cancer screenings, x rays, blood work or any other diagnostic tests/tool. They don’t want you to know little John/Jane has an actual legit problem so they don’t have to pay for it. Also if they do have a legitimate disability, that is now to some extent a Civil Rights issue.

Well, slow down and think.

Insurance companies collecting the same or increased premiums. Paying out less. Making money.

 

[John105]

I guess that too.

Insurance companies making bank

Insurance and providers are really something. I once asked my wife, were you treated for depression and alcohol? She said, "WHATTTTTT!!!" Her doctor, I want to throw this in PC or not, who when we called to follow up, her staff didn't speak English, submitted those services as part of a physical. This isn't the only time.

My son got some charges too for therapy, and at the time Aetna (can I say that), covered 3, and then denied the 4th. I called them saying I want the other 3 denied--my logic? It's not covered, never had any services, so 1. My employer should not pay 2. I want my deductible and coinsurance back. They said you want those claims reversed? (I guess this is unusual)

But nothing ever became of the above two scenarios. Even medical practices seem to submit things and "see" if they can get anything. Because the patient is totally powerless, they know.

Today we have $0 deductible and 0% coinsurance so I probably would let it slide. But in theory, insurance fraud hurts everyone.

 

[PF52]

Everything needs to be on a spectrum these days.
Funny how just fifty years ago almost nobody heard of autism and now every little quirk is being attributed to being on autism spectrum.

I'm 60, and the quirks were present even as a kid and even moreso back then because I hadn't learned to cope with it yet. I'm not sure there was such a diagnosis back then. People probably just thought I was rude. Fortunately, I think there is a large segment of the spectrum (high-functioning adults) where there is little else to do besides shrug and say, oh well, it is what it is. No treatment necessary; I'll still be the quiet one who is terrified of new social situations but can memorize every road map like its on the back of my hand, but that's nothing new. I don't think there is anything to "treat", and I've gotten better and being sociable. Its the ones higher on the spectrum (Level 2 and 3 or whatever they call it) who are obvious that they have "something", whether it be autism, ADHD, or whatever. Actually, the high-functioning people used to be labelled Aspergers, but for whatever reason they eventually got lumped into Autism. I kind of would have preferred they hadn't done that.

Obviously, those self-diagnosis tests do kind of have a goal hiding beneath the surface; it is to sell you something. Treatment, more testing, or whatever. And if you watch the questions closely, you can even kind of guess which directions they point depending on which way you answer. But if you're answering the questions honestly, they probably are pretty accurate. On one test I scored a 39 out of 50, where "borderline" was 28-30. I asked a few friends to take it also and they got scores like 13 and 19 and 22. Another test was 25 out of 30 where borderline was 20 if I remember right.

Anyway, I'm cool with it. The results didn't surprise me, and I have no need to pursue further diagnosis.