MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

[pansy]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

Ima, that is just so awful. Sorry - I guess the others who have posted can offer much better advice. That is exactly why I will not tell my doctor - just in case!!

Hugs,
Pans

[notmay]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

That soooo sucks. Mu husband and I became self-employed 3 years ago. When I first applied for an insurance policy, I aired it all (though not alcohol, and really, it wasn't much of a problem then), but I got penalized for everything from back surgery in 1994 to - well - I don't want to say it here. But suffice it to say that Blue Cross raped me on the costs. I have since learned to not tell the doctors anything if you're putting it through to insurance. I have even advised my teens that if they've ever smoked, drank, done drugs, or had an STD, DON'T TELL them!! Not that I support any of those behaviors, of course! But if you are self-insured in America, you'd better not get sick! Illegal immigrants get better healthcare for less money than we do.

[Saint Jude]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

Ima, THAT IS SOOO WRONG! I'd be tempted to talk to a lawyer! She has completly violated your confidence.
I've been to in-patient re-hab 2 times. I've never had any better progress or success than this program of MWO! I don't care how many $1ooo's you spend... THIS WORKS! I'm living proof!
Wishing you strength & grace to get thru this.:h

I'd like to B*tch slap your ignorant twit of qwak "doc"!

Have some good time out ....OK?

[hablur]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

Ima,

When you get back the first thing you need to do is contact the Insurance Commissioner in the State of Washington. Insurance Companies can not dictate to a patient treatment options. It is against the law in ANY state. I do not know what insurance carrier you have but if you saw your doctor under a normal doctors visit it does not matter what the doctor wrote as it is still covered by insurance.

This is a common scare tactic. Let the State work for you. I know a bit about the Insurance Commissioner for the State of Washinton as my wife and I had to use them while we lived there and they are very powerful in WA.

Also, you can also put your doctor up to the State Board of Ethics for his/her tratment of you in this case.

I am currently doing that with my GP here in Kansas because I chose to go to a Drug/Alcohol Pdoc not a InPatient facility that she recommended so she cut me off of meds and told me I had better go to where I was told to go. That is completely illegal. Patients still have rights. When my Pdoc found out about it he went thru the roof and called the ethics board himself and also lodged a compliant.

I just wanted you to know you do not have to stand for it and you have a lot of recourses.

[imatree]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

Thanks everyone. Yes, I will get a lawyer for sure, if needed. And I tell you what, when I do beat this addiction, I'm going to do all I can to let the world know that alcoholism can be conquered by means outside of the conventional medical system and 12-step world. I'll write a goddam book and go on Oprah if I have to.

If I had seen Michael Moore's documentary Sicko before I went to the doc, I wouldn't have done it. Just as you say notmay, the insurance industry f**ks us over big time. (that what MMs movie is about)

I feel like I'm being punished and it's ripping me up. With everything else going on...
I thank the Universe for this forum - otherwise who could we all possibly talk to?

[imatree]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

Oh Hablur - we posted at the same time. Thank you!! You've given me hope and some fire!
I will get to work on this just as you suggest as soon as I return next week.
And you know, I was thinking, the appointment was a routine annual physical - so damn straight that it isn't right that they decline payment for it.
My insurance company is one of the best, so I'm quite surprised.

[diamond]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

Ima,
that worries me more, if they are normally good - then what the H*** did the doctor say about you .. leave that doctor asap !! She is deadly...

Sorry don't want to scare or upset you
Diamond xx

[imatree]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

Diamond, I had already decided after the appt I'd never see her again. I should have left her last year over something else she was quite irresponsible about.

[hablur]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

I had another thought... Your doctor may have tried to snooker your insurance and billed your "treatment" as alcohol related for more money and now the insurance wants proof that you completed the program. You may want to contact the insurance first and see exactly what he put in as he could be fraudulently putting in a claim.

[Breez]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

one simple thing for you from me.....:l hope all works out well.

[imatree]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

You are right Hablur - I called insurance company. She put diagnosis on the record and it was deemed that I was being treated for the diagnosis (which was not true - we had a discussion about it during a physical). So - at the insurance company they said I have to have the doc fax her notes from the appointment to them so they can determine whether or not I was being treated for alcoholism or if it was merely part of the conversation.
hmmmm. I'll have to write her a letter asking her to fax her notes to insurance company. When I get back next week.
If she considers that she was treating me for alcoholism, it appears I'm screwed - because that's what the letter is about. When the insurance company gets request for benefits for treatment, they don't pay til treatment is completed.

[hablur]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

No you are not screwed at all. One appointment does not constitue treatment. The first appointment can only constitue treatment options. She may have said go to XYZ clinic and start rehab there but that doesnt mean she is entitled to any more money other than the doctors visit.

Also I would speak to a supervisor because it doesnt matter what the doctor put in her notes... YOU did not request to be treated by her. End of story and unless there is documented proof that you followed up with her several times seeking treatment for alchohol there is NO treatment. Your doctor is being unethical and your insurance company is being retarded. Actually, it is not your responsibility to get this information it is the insurance companies. Ignore all that crap and contact the Insurance Commissioner when you return and let them handle it. Sit back and let them deal with it and it will end quickly.

[happycamper68]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

I cannot believe you doctor- just terrible-
so let me get this straight, you said NO to rehab but she put in a diagnosis of alcoholism and that you were going to go to rehab? And now the insurance company wants documentation that you completed rehab or else they won't pay for the initial doctor's visit which was really nothing more than a check-up and a conversation? You doctor should lose his/her license.
I mean even if you had agreed to rehab wouldn't the doc have had to set it up, wouldn't there be the name of the rehab, etc, wouldn't she have needed to sign something? I just cannot believe this...I would listen to everything Hablur says it sounds like he knows what he is talking about. Good luck and try to not let it spoil your vacation. :h

[soccermom]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

Ima--I am so sorry about this. Hablur gives great advice.
Recently I went to my dr. for a routine physical and briefly discussed my depression issue in which she gave me a perscription. It was not on the bill that she was counseling me for that--just the physical. So why should it be different for an alcohol issue? It was just a conversation.

And one more thing: Years ago I went to a dermatologist who basically blew some gas on my face as the treatment and billed my insurance for surgery. I called the doctor and said that it sounded like insurance scandel to me because I didn't consent to any surgery.
The doctor immediately said that it would be removed from my bill.

Doctors are not above being unethical. Just the threat of reporting your doctor might be enough. Sounds like she's inflating that bill.

Thinking of you.

[karma7171]

MY DOCTOR HAS TRAPPED ME

this is just kooky

What I mean is that in AA...12-step they tell you over an over again that no one can diagnose you as an alcoholic...you have to do it yourself...with much encouragement from the group of course. But since there is no way to truly diagnose you as one then how can they do it and prove it anyways?

I have thought about this when I may have come to a point with life insurance and such and some of the docs I have saw. They want to send you to AA for treatment...but there they will tell you that they can't dianose you...and you have to decide for yourself. Does it make any sense? Not in my book.

Hope you are doing better. I am constantly fighting with the insurance company about paying for treatments my son has done. I have learned that they are experts in not paying until you give up and pay so that your credit isn't ruined. I am ruthless with them and have yet to lose a battle. I have threatened to sue over defamation of character when they push the envelope so far...and then the medical facilty I went to is not paid an wants to send us to collections...it is amazing how fast that one gets a claim paid.

Karma