Should I put an alcohol treatment program on my health insurance?

December 13, 2006 10:49 AM

What are the potential negative consequences for putting an alcohol treatment program on my health insurance?

I recently plead guilty to a DUI and will be going through my state's 'diversion' program. This entails going to a victim's impact panel as well as taking several 'alcohol treatment' classes. Upon the completion of said classes, the state tosses the DUI conviction.

My quandry is whether or not to put these classes on my insurance. I'm trying to build a list on pros on cons. On the pro side, it'll save me alot of money. The classes will probably be somewhere in the $1,0000-$1,500 range.

The con side I'm not so familiar with, however - and am appealing to the hivemind for possible ramifications.

Thanks!

posted by anonymous to Work & Money (5 answers total)

The money you save now will be greatly outpaced by the costs in the long run if you report. I think the general rule of thumb is to avoid reporting anything that can come back and haunt you that you could see to afford right now anyhow.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 11:28 AM on December 13, 2006

Yeah I think the same way with insurance claims. Only claim what you can't pay for some other way.
posted by thilmony at 11:44 AM on December 13, 2006

The classes are sort of a joke. Look at the money as another fine. I went through it with the State of New Jersey fifteen years ago. It was a huge moneymaker. Our 'clinician' had homemade gang tattoos on the backs of her hands. Obviously a highly trained professional. We watched movies and talked about the horrible decisions we had made that led us to this point. Then we graduated, got our certificates and our records were expunged. I would say suck it up and pay if you can. There shouldn't be any fear that they'd release your records i.e. to an employer or potential employer since there are privacy acts protecting you.
posted by fixedgear at 12:15 PM on December 13, 2006

If you apply for private insurance and they ask you about alcohol counseling, they're not going to ask, "have you ever used your insurance to pay for drug or alcohol counseling?" They're going to ask, "have you ever undergone drug or alcohol counseling?" Lying on the application form would likely void your coverage. So it may not make a difference whether or not you charge this to your insurance.

This should only be a problem if you are applying for individual insurance. If you get insurance through your employer (and think you'll continue to do so for the foreseeable future), your treatment won't matter.
posted by decathecting at 12:34 PM on December 13, 2006

Similarly, if you ever need to apply for security clearance, they won't ask you, "Have you ever used insurance to pay for drug/alcohol counseling?" They may ask, "Have you ever undergone drug/alcohol counseling?" or even perhaps "Has a doctor ever reccommended that you undergo drug/alcohol counseling?"

So at this point, I don't know if it matters.
posted by muddgirl at 1:12 PM on December 13, 2006