Insurers Hit the Mentally Ill Hardest: Here's How to Defend Yourself

In today's society, every one is out to make a buck. This includes health insurance companies. We as a society pay for insurance as a part of everyday life; it's taken out of our paychecks by employers. We have little choice but to pay. It is for our own good, isn't it? The great paper chase has lead to many people being bullied into thinking they are wrong, when in fact, they are right. Legal jargon and internal reviews are just two of the ways that insurance companies defeat the public at large. The people who are the worst off in these cases are the mentally ill and/or the cognitively challenged. A clear explanation of coverage often lacks, and as a result, consumers are vulnerable.

First, let me tell you a little about myself. I am not an employee of any insurance company so the process I will present is that viewed through the eyes of an informed consumer. I as a consumer, consider myself to pretty intelligent, in spite of my own mental illness. I have experienced in many facets of mental health spanning from billing claims, viewing explanation of benefits, to receiving services and receiving responses to questions posed to the insurance company. For the past five years, I have done insurance verification and for the past three I additionally did billing for a mental health agency. I consider myself to have a pretty vast realm of experience in these arenas. I am well versed in the terminology used by insurance companies and the disclaimers they issue during verification of benefits. I have come across far more than a few responses from insurance companies.