Problems with diagnosis | ADHD Information

Hi

I am very sure I have ADD and I want to go to my doctor about it. Are there any ways that diagnosis will change my life? i.e. not being able to get a mortgage, health insurance etc?

Many thanks

Tony

Where do you live?
It certainly can't be used against you in the U.S.
It would be a pre-existing condition on new insurance and
ANYTHING you've been treated for falls into that category if it's been
in a certain period of time.
Preexisting conditions usually have a waiting period before the
insurance will pay on them. 6 months or a year is common. So it's a
temporary situation.
Having ADD is not something that's going to cost insurance
companies a lot of money. You're not hosptialized, you have no
major medical costs from it. There's nothing saying we have shorter
life spans and more illnesses.
It's office visits and a prescription.
If you have mental health coverage then therapy may be covered.

Why on earth would it stop you from getting a mortgage or anything
else? First of all, your medical history is confidential and cannot be
shared short of a court order. No one is going to know unless you
tell them. Why would you tell the loan officer? It has nothing to do
with your loan seeking. If you managed to have good credit with
ADD before treatment, you'll get the loan. If you have poor credit,
you won't — it aint' about ADD.
sunray38352.5289930556Well you know, those life insurance companies can find just about
anything high risk. I lived in Ireland for a couple of years, and
worked in radio — and when I went to insure my car I found out
quickly that people working in radio and t.v. were considered high
risk! We paid twice as much as people in less threatening jobs, I
guess. I was blown away by that. I was told, "tell them you are a
producer, don't tell them you're on the air!"

There life insurance deals — like that one Mickey Rooney advertises,
that require no physical, and that for people over 55.
I have no life insurance, and have never had it unless it came with
the job. I'm 50, and frankly just not going to worry about it.
I am not in a position to do anything about it right now, so why
worry.
But, I'm also wondering how they would even know about ADD?
What are they going to do, subpoena your confidential medical
records? It's not the kind of thing that appears on any health
questionnaire I've ever seen! And if you die of whatever, they could
only deny it if it was a direct result of ADD — and as far as I know,
ADD is not a terminal illness! The meds don't cause it either.
I can't see how we'd be any more high risk than a radio personality!
It's just as ridiculous. Someone treated for it is LESS risk than a lot
of people running around!

There are a lot of companies too — shop around. And for heaven's
sake, if they don't ask about it specifically, don't volunteer it!

I don't think too many people could actually sit down and say, "Well,
gee, if I'm going to see the doctor about this and I may get
diagnosed, I better call my insurance agent before I make a doctor's
apppointment!"

I'm not convinced what you say is true, but if it is, how prevalent and
so on. Sounds a little paranoid — it's not the Plague, it's just ADD.Life insurance will be more expensive because ADHD people are considered a high risk group. Better to set up your life insurance before getting diagnosed if possible. That's the only one I'm sure of. Don't think it would effect the other things but can't give you a real answer.

Wow I had never heard that before about ADHDer's life ins being more???

I guess you do learn something everyday

I only know about the life insurance by accident. My friend went into that line of work after college and she passed the info on to me after she learned about it.Well, I'd check that out thoroughly, not just from a friend, before
passing that info along. It makes no sense. (not that insurance
companies have to make sense!)

Well it's only that company too. I obviously haven't checked out all companies and you know they all have different rules. So it's very possible that some don't raise their rates for ADHD. I only know how it works in her company. Like I said I never even thought about it until she told me. (I'm not the type of person that makes plans or thinks about the future. I'm pure impulse.)

Of course there are ways to get around everything. You could always get another doctor to say you were misdiagnosed and don't have ADHD later on if being labeled was creating such a problem.

Yeah, but again, I'm wondering how an insurance co. would know
about the ADD anyway — you never volunteer info to these people.
Answer the questionnairre honestly, but if they don't ask, why on
earth would anyone bring it up? Does your friend's company have
that on their questionnaire?

You don't have to provide medical records to these companies, nor
do they have any right to your confidential information. They go by
age and things like do you smoke, and your health history in terms
of what is on the questionnaire, like heart, liver, HIV, depression,
surgeries, cancer etc. But ADD? The don't even ask that in doctor's
offices when you fill out the stuff.

Anyway, you are thinking abou going to a doctor because you think
you might be ADD — then go, no one's going to mess up your life
over it. I've never heard anyone even bring anything like this up —
unnecessary worry. Maybe you have an anxiety problem and worry
obsessively? Just a thought . . . it might not be ADD. lol I don't know it would be interesting to find out though I'll have to ask my friend. I've never signed up for life insurance so have no idea what it entails. If it really isn't listed on the form then your probably right must have been some overly chatty person giving out way to much information about their medical history while talking to the agent. It's always best to stick with the don't ask / don't tell policy on these things.