Just a word of warning here for anyone considering talking to his/her Dr about getting Nal.

I was just declined life insurance because my Dr. noted in my record that I asked him for a prescription for Nal. If I'd had known this, I would have not talked to my Dr. and instead bought from River or the like.

Pitty.

I'm so sorry. Question, would my shrink have to share that info with my GP and could I ask her not to? Best, Jim

Bummer.

Fortunately, I got term life insurance decades ago and have kept up on the premiums through the years. I cannot increase the amount due to the psychiatric conditions I have suffered were deemed unacceptable by Hartford. It's interesting that if I had left the conditions untreated, I would have better insurance, but since I have chosen to fix my problems and have a much better chance of survival and better health, I am penalized for it.

Oh well, that's "life".

Bob

~Q~ that makes me so mad that steam is fogging up my glasses. We'd be a much better risk if we were just quietly chugging our life away. Grrrr.

I'm a life insurance agent. When I was active I told my clients not to fill out the physician info. My boss told me to do this because sometimes it means no sale. Not everybody has a physician.

Q, go to a different company and try to get a policy without revealing to them who your doctor is. They didn't pull that information out of the Medical Information Bureau did they? I doubt it.

edit: Oh yeah, always buy term! Never buy anything that goes by any other name. Whole life, universal life, cash value and all that other crap is a scam. Buy term, it's cheaper and you get to keep the rest of your money and use it or invest it how you see fit.

Loop,

Thanks so much for the great advice. I'll certainly put it to good use!

This really is a very unfortunate "side effect" of going to see ones GP about the use of Nal for AL addiction.

What seems so ridiculous about this is that the medical exam I went through as part of the application process came back with stellar results. I'm in really good shape physically, don't smoke, and am not over weight 6'1", 220lbs. One of my business partners; who weights 340lbs, smokes, has high blood pressure, and is a stress case; was approved for life ins. Yes, the rate was a little higher, but still approved. I was denied outright just because I had undergone "alcohol dependency treatment."

I realize these insurance guys base their decision on statistics, but this just seems to defy logic. Getting life insurance on my overweight business partner is almost an investment, yet I'm denied outright and I have nothing wrong with me.

If I had this all to do over again, I'd think twice before going to my GP for NAL.

Q

~Q~,
That has been my concern since I use my insurance to purchase Nal. Fortunately I already have Life Insurance. With electronic recording of med records, things may even get worse.

Sadly, people completing the Method shoudl be regarded no differently than one who has broken a bone and had it set and healed. We are being healed. Those others in AA stay live with the broken bone and hobble around for the rest of their lives.

You may go to your MD and ask them to re-word how they prescribed Nal. What is significant is the ICD-10/CPT code they used. If they are calling it, alcohol treatment, you can challenge that.

Here's a fascinating online tool that returns various codes based on keywords: http://www.findacode.com/search/search.php

Putting in "alcohol" returns quite an astonishing number. If anyone "in the know" knows what codes might be less damaging, I'm not above suggesting one to my own MD.

I may trawl through some old paperwork if I can find some to see if I can figure out what codes system my provider uses.

Can't let this go. It just pisses me off.

These are the normal ICD-10 codes.
303.90 unspecified
303.91 continuous
303.92 episodic
303.93 in remission

I would sit down with your physician and go over your record. Explain the process and where you are at now. Seek to have them recode or purge your record. This has been a conmcern with me since the inception. My GP is also a friend since we went to the same grad school. If you were never committed to treatment, you should not be judged accordingly.

Fight!

This is an infuriating subject and I could go on about it for hours. I was once rejected for health insurance because I "discussed treatment for possible alcoholism." I never did get the treatment and was rejected for merely discussing it. Meanwhile, I run 25 miles a week, lift weights three times a week, don't smoke, have a great diet and am 6'1', 200 pounds with a 32" waist. Do they care about this? Not one bit! But give them a fat-ass smoker who has Ragu tomato sauce in their veins and they'll give them a policy.

BTW, I am good friends with a guy who has owned an insurance company for 30 years. And here is how it works with any claim: the first thing the company does is scour your application for even the most remote inaccuracy. If you make a mistake, or omit information, your claim is denied. For this reason I always fully disclose everything on all insurance applications. If you omit important information or lie, the bottom line is that you will be paying on a policy for years that has no value because if and when you make a claim, it will be rejected for failure to disclose or for a material misrepresentation. This is not my opinion, but from a guy who has been selling policies and making claims since the 70s.