FYI, alcoholic & recovery, drugs & insurance
Searching and tripping
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Back in my head
Posts: 1,194
FYI, alcoholic & recovery, drugs & insurance
This post is just a sort of informational thing. I've been through this with my husband and with my son, so I thought it might be helpful to pass on what I've learned, to all of you.
When a person quits drinking, they are very susceptible to relapse if they take different types of medication. Mainly narcotics. However, this also includes over the counter cough syrups, sleep medications and pain relief. And I'm sure there are many more out there that can trigger a slip.
For several years after my husband got out of rehab, he wouldn't take an aspirin because of the fear of relapsing. He will not take something unless he's really miserable. He had surgery this past January and they had him on I.V. pain medication and after the surgery, on pills, and I really worried that it would cause a slip after 17 years, but he stopped taking the pills the day after the surgery. But while on the medication, I saw the same old damned stupid drunk from years ago and I really hated.
June of this year, our AH son had to have an emergency appendectomy. The anesthesia they used was narcotic and the I.V. pain medication was too. They also gave him pills for the pain because the incision had become infected. He did slip several weeks later.
When he initially went to the ER, he told the doc that he didn't want anything narcotic for pain because there were addiction problems in the family and wanted to avoid using anything because of past family history. We don't think the doc believed him. He asked all kinds of questions and we lied our way through it all.
Anyway, he said that while taking the pills at home, he was getting a buzz but didn't admit it. He lives out of town and when he went back is when he slipped.
By us trying not to let the hospital know our son was an alcoholic, we couldn't stop them from using the narcotic for putting him to sleep for the surgery.
Lastly, sorry for the ramble, but I want people to know about this stuff if you already don't. Especially this last one.
Never, never, never under any circumstances let it be entered on the alcoholics medical records that they are an alcoholic/addict. We tried to get life insurance for my husband a couple of years after his rehab. Wanting to be open and honest, we told them about his rehab. The biggest mistake we could have made. Premiums equaled a car payment. We didn't have to tell them about the rehab because of the anonimity (sp) that the center practiced and also because they destroyed records after 5 years.
They claimed that the high premium would only be in effect for another 3 years as long as he was sober. In the long run, they refused to extend his insurance after the 5 year period unless he continued to pay the high premiums, and said he was uninsurable because of the alcoholism. Such a crock considering they were insuring people who were actively drinking and out and out boozers.
We had this problem several times with life insurance. Eventually, I got insurance and did not tell them of his past drinking. No problems.
As to our son, he's only 24. Eventually he'll get a full-time job which will offer health and life insurance. But before they give it to him, they'll check his medical records...Do you know that every visit you make to any doctor for whatever reason is documented in a national registry?????????
Ain't that a pisser? Nothing is private anymore.
If they see you've admitted to a drinking/addiction problem, it's an immediate denial for any type of coverage and will be like that for the rest of their lives.
That's why we were secretive about his alcoholism in the hospital.
Our son saw his internist and asked to talk to him off the record about the alcoholism and the doc was good enough to oblige him. There is no mention of his problem.
So, be forewarned. And be cautious. Docs will oblige you if you ask to talk to them off the record.
I hope this tidbit of information will be helpful for anyone in the future.
Love and Blessings, gelfling
When a person quits drinking, they are very susceptible to relapse if they take different types of medication. Mainly narcotics. However, this also includes over the counter cough syrups, sleep medications and pain relief. And I'm sure there are many more out there that can trigger a slip.
For several years after my husband got out of rehab, he wouldn't take an aspirin because of the fear of relapsing. He will not take something unless he's really miserable. He had surgery this past January and they had him on I.V. pain medication and after the surgery, on pills, and I really worried that it would cause a slip after 17 years, but he stopped taking the pills the day after the surgery. But while on the medication, I saw the same old damned stupid drunk from years ago and I really hated.
June of this year, our AH son had to have an emergency appendectomy. The anesthesia they used was narcotic and the I.V. pain medication was too. They also gave him pills for the pain because the incision had become infected. He did slip several weeks later.
When he initially went to the ER, he told the doc that he didn't want anything narcotic for pain because there were addiction problems in the family and wanted to avoid using anything because of past family history. We don't think the doc believed him. He asked all kinds of questions and we lied our way through it all.
Anyway, he said that while taking the pills at home, he was getting a buzz but didn't admit it. He lives out of town and when he went back is when he slipped.
By us trying not to let the hospital know our son was an alcoholic, we couldn't stop them from using the narcotic for putting him to sleep for the surgery.
Lastly, sorry for the ramble, but I want people to know about this stuff if you already don't. Especially this last one.
Never, never, never under any circumstances let it be entered on the alcoholics medical records that they are an alcoholic/addict. We tried to get life insurance for my husband a couple of years after his rehab. Wanting to be open and honest, we told them about his rehab. The biggest mistake we could have made. Premiums equaled a car payment. We didn't have to tell them about the rehab because of the anonimity (sp) that the center practiced and also because they destroyed records after 5 years.
They claimed that the high premium would only be in effect for another 3 years as long as he was sober. In the long run, they refused to extend his insurance after the 5 year period unless he continued to pay the high premiums, and said he was uninsurable because of the alcoholism. Such a crock considering they were insuring people who were actively drinking and out and out boozers.
We had this problem several times with life insurance. Eventually, I got insurance and did not tell them of his past drinking. No problems.
As to our son, he's only 24. Eventually he'll get a full-time job which will offer health and life insurance. But before they give it to him, they'll check his medical records...Do you know that every visit you make to any doctor for whatever reason is documented in a national registry?????????
Ain't that a pisser? Nothing is private anymore. If they see you've admitted to a drinking/addiction problem, it's an immediate denial for any type of coverage and will be like that for the rest of their lives.
That's why we were secretive about his alcoholism in the hospital.
Our son saw his internist and asked to talk to him off the record about the alcoholism and the doc was good enough to oblige him. There is no mention of his problem.
So, be forewarned. And be cautious. Docs will oblige you if you ask to talk to them off the record.
I hope this tidbit of information will be helpful for anyone in the future.
Love and Blessings, gelfling
Member
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: New Orleans, La.
Posts: 12
But what if they need inpatient rehab? My brother paid the first go round for these exact reasons, but he is broke now, and relapsed. He is 33, and I say it's just one of the consequences he has to live with. What do you think?
Searching and tripping
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Back in my head
Posts: 1,194
It angers me to no end because there are people out there drinking, driving on expired or revoked licenses and getting pulled over to be let to. What it finally comes down to is they wind up killing someone.
But our partners are being penalized for honesty and wanting to get sober.
These were my experiences with insurance. We went through the high premiums, but you do need insurance. According to the state you reside, the medical records are destroyed after a period of 5-7 years. And what I finally did was not tell them about his rehab because if they did contact the center, they wouldn't release his medical records without his written consent. Several years after my AH's rehab, I got a job there and found all of this out. Lots of insurance companies asked for proof of rehab under the guise making sure they did an inhouse rehab, but it's to verify admission so they can either deny the claim or charge the higher premium. The only information we gave them is that we had no record of admission for the person in question.
This all happened 17 years ago and I don't know the policies of rehabs now on disbursing information. I would think it's still the same because of the aninimity(sp) issue.
But our partners are being penalized for honesty and wanting to get sober.
These were my experiences with insurance. We went through the high premiums, but you do need insurance. According to the state you reside, the medical records are destroyed after a period of 5-7 years. And what I finally did was not tell them about his rehab because if they did contact the center, they wouldn't release his medical records without his written consent. Several years after my AH's rehab, I got a job there and found all of this out. Lots of insurance companies asked for proof of rehab under the guise making sure they did an inhouse rehab, but it's to verify admission so they can either deny the claim or charge the higher premium. The only information we gave them is that we had no record of admission for the person in question.
This all happened 17 years ago and I don't know the policies of rehabs now on disbursing information. I would think it's still the same because of the aninimity(sp) issue.
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