Help ! Insurance Company Sais I can't travel out of my area for treatment !
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 65
Help ! Insurance Company Sais I can't travel out of my area for treatment !
I put this in the mental health forum cause rehab is "mental health" right ?
My Family is trying to get our insurance to pay for a treatment center for me in Florida and they are telling us I have to stay in the "area".
My auto insurance will pay anyplace in USA, so whats the problem ?
1. What right do they have to say where I get medical care ?
2. Why do they care where I go for treatment ?
I want to get sober and get away from this "area". I have relapsed in this "area" and need help. I can't quit now without getting the sickness and panic attacks.
The right to travel is in the United States Constitution. See below.
The Court's establishment of a strong constitutional right to freedom of movement has also had far-reaching and unintended effects. For example, the Supreme Court overturned state prohibitions on welfare payments to individuals who had not resided within the jurisdiction for at least one year as an impermissible burden on the right to travel (Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969)). The Court has also struck down one-year residency requirements for voting in state elections (Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330 (1972)), one-year waiting periods before receiving state-provided medical care (Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County, 415 U.S. 250 (1974)), civil service preferences for state veterans (Attorney Gen. of New York v. Soto-Lopez, 476 U.S. 898 (1986)), but upheld higher fishing and hunting license fees for out-of-state residents (Baldwin v. Fish and Game Commission of Montana, 436 U.S. 371 (1978)
from wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_under_United_States_law
Even a person on probation is covered under the right to travel, that's why they transfer it. I just read that.
Has anyone else had this dispute with there insurance company or have any advice on how to make them follow constitutional law ?
My Family is trying to get our insurance to pay for a treatment center for me in Florida and they are telling us I have to stay in the "area".
My auto insurance will pay anyplace in USA, so whats the problem ?
1. What right do they have to say where I get medical care ?
2. Why do they care where I go for treatment ?
I want to get sober and get away from this "area". I have relapsed in this "area" and need help. I can't quit now without getting the sickness and panic attacks.
The right to travel is in the United States Constitution. See below.
The Court's establishment of a strong constitutional right to freedom of movement has also had far-reaching and unintended effects. For example, the Supreme Court overturned state prohibitions on welfare payments to individuals who had not resided within the jurisdiction for at least one year as an impermissible burden on the right to travel (Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969)). The Court has also struck down one-year residency requirements for voting in state elections (Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330 (1972)), one-year waiting periods before receiving state-provided medical care (Memorial Hospital v. Maricopa County, 415 U.S. 250 (1974)), civil service preferences for state veterans (Attorney Gen. of New York v. Soto-Lopez, 476 U.S. 898 (1986)), but upheld higher fishing and hunting license fees for out-of-state residents (Baldwin v. Fish and Game Commission of Montana, 436 U.S. 371 (1978)
from wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_under_United_States_law
Even a person on probation is covered under the right to travel, that's why they transfer it. I just read that.
Has anyone else had this dispute with there insurance company or have any advice on how to make them follow constitutional law ?
Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lakeside, Ca
Posts: 10,208
sometimes we just need to be grateful
Originally Posted by Alex1776 
1. What right do they have to say where I get medical care ?
2. Why do they care where I go for treatment ?
very few insurance companies let one go just anywhere for treatment
they probably only have contracts for treatment in your area
they can't and won't pay extra monies just to send you where you wish to go
sometimes we just need to be grateful
that there is some type of treatment offered through our insurance
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,609
Hi Alex
I think every insurance company in the world reserves the right to dictate exactly what they will pay for and what they wont.
It may have been in legalese, but I'm willing to bet that clause was in whatever contract you signed.
Whether it was unconstitutional or not? I think you'll need a lawyer.
D
I think every insurance company in the world reserves the right to dictate exactly what they will pay for and what they wont.
It may have been in legalese, but I'm willing to bet that clause was in whatever contract you signed.
Whether it was unconstitutional or not? I think you'll need a lawyer.
D
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 65
I don't think its legal, what if I am traveling and already in Florida and relaps for a few weeks and need treatment ?? What if I get hit by a car in Florida, do I have to travel all the way back to my "area" to get medical care ?
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: NE Wisconsin USA
Posts: 6,223
To answer your two questions it comes down to money and profit.
I got clean and sober in the same area I grew up were i wasan active alcoholic and addict. hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have done this also.
In my volunteer work I know many chronic alcoholics and addicts who have no insurance...the best they can do is a 72 hour detox and then out the door.
Option: go to rehab in your area and then move...seriously. Rehabs are dictated privacy laws...so nobody will know you cleaned up...and then move to Florida! There problem solved.
I got clean and sober in the same area I grew up were i wasan active alcoholic and addict. hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have done this also.
In my volunteer work I know many chronic alcoholics and addicts who have no insurance...the best they can do is a 72 hour detox and then out the door.
Option: go to rehab in your area and then move...seriously. Rehabs are dictated privacy laws...so nobody will know you cleaned up...and then move to Florida! There problem solved.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 65
There are many nice places in Florida, I don't know the name of where my friend went.
I will not give in to this insurance company. I don't have all the details, I'm just starting research on this right to travel freedom of movement thing.
I will not give in to this insurance company. I don't have all the details, I'm just starting research on this right to travel freedom of movement thing.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 65
Originally Posted by wiscsober
To answer your two questions it comes down to money and profit.
I got clean and sober in the same area I grew up were i wasan active alcoholic and addict. hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have done this also.
In my volunteer work I know many chronic alcoholics and addicts who have no insurance...the best they can do is a 72 hour detox and then out the door.
Option: go to rehab in your area and then move...seriously. Rehabs are dictated privacy laws...so nobody will know you cleaned up...and then move to Florida! There problem solved.
I got clean and sober in the same area I grew up were i wasan active alcoholic and addict. hundreds of thousands of people worldwide have done this also.
In my volunteer work I know many chronic alcoholics and addicts who have no insurance...the best they can do is a 72 hour detox and then out the door.
Option: go to rehab in your area and then move...seriously. Rehabs are dictated privacy laws...so nobody will know you cleaned up...and then move to Florida! There problem solved.
My insurance is paid, time for them to pay. I will get more details about this illegal insurance rule and put them here when I get them.
I will be back tomorrow.
Anyone have info to help me fight this ?
Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: NE Wisconsin USA
Posts: 6,223
The guidelines of SR prohibit giving and seeking legal advice...
If you want to talk about your drinking and drug problem and how we can help with that then we can help....
otherwise you and your family need to seek legal counsel if not already.
I hope you do get clean and sober and work through this anger...my best to you
If you want to talk about your drinking and drug problem and how we can help with that then we can help....
otherwise you and your family need to seek legal counsel if not already.
I hope you do get clean and sober and work through this anger...my best to you
Engineer Things; LOVE People
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,707
Well whatever rehab you wind up in or not, hopefully you will learn some of this . . .
"we have ceased fighting anything or anyone even alcohol."
Short thread on it here >>>
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-fighting.html
"we have ceased fighting anything or anyone even alcohol."
Short thread on it here >>>
http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...-fighting.html
Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lakeside, Ca
Posts: 10,208
priorities
Originally Posted by Hammer
"we have ceased fighting anything or anyone even alcohol."
great point made
the only thing that one needs to fight at the early stage of the game is
pouring booze down their throat
back in 1989 I was sent to a nice (local) rehab through insurance
but
if I needed rehab today
I would go wherever I could get in (especially for no cost)
if I wanted to go to the Betty Ford Center miles away
guess that I would just take out a loan
or sell my house so as to pay the bill
priorities -- getting sober -- wherever I can seek it
the only thing that one needs to fight at the early stage of the game is
pouring booze down their throat
back in 1989 I was sent to a nice (local) rehab through insurance
but
if I needed rehab today
I would go wherever I could get in (especially for no cost)
if I wanted to go to the Betty Ford Center miles away
guess that I would just take out a loan
or sell my house so as to pay the bill
priorities -- getting sober -- wherever I can seek it
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 65
What if Americas founding fathers said "we have ceased fighting anything or anyone even alcohol." or even worse if they had used that looser saying many people use today "it is what it is" ?
On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. The incident remains an iconic event of American history.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party
Just think of it , where would we be if they said in Boston back then "this tea tax is really really high but "it is what it is" ??? There would be no America at all with that kind of thinking.
My relaps is months old, I can maintain O.K for a few more weeks. If I need to I will change my address so Florida is my "area" but even that bothers me because then I am being forced to go out of my way to do things cause of there illegal policy regarding my medical care.
On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor. The incident remains an iconic event of American history.
wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Tea_Party
Just think of it , where would we be if they said in Boston back then "this tea tax is really really high but "it is what it is" ??? There would be no America at all with that kind of thinking.
My relaps is months old, I can maintain O.K for a few more weeks. If I need to I will change my address so Florida is my "area" but even that bothers me because then I am being forced to go out of my way to do things cause of there illegal policy regarding my medical care.
Sobriety is Traditional
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Orcas Island, Washington
Posts: 9,082
Our forefathers accepted many things as a part of life, and just said, "It is what it is." For example, early colonists had almost no medical assistance whatsoever. My Dad lost a leg when hit by a mortar shell in Korea, and had to accept it as a part of life.
Here's a story I share from time to time:
There is a story about men who have lost their legs--and it says they never grow new ones. The moral is that alcoholics will never be non-alcoholics.
Well, my Dad had only one leg, and although he never grew a new one he always had an artificial leg. But the Veteran's Administration is not sufficiently funded, so up to the end of the 20th century (when he died) his legs were made of wood, attached with buckles and leather straps and had an inflexible ankle. Oscar Pistorius's little toe cost more than all the legs dad ever had.
Dad lost his leg fighting for freedom, including the right to drink. Later in life, he fought for social and environmental justice, and he would be happy to know that I was able to find help for my alcoholism when I needed it. The sobriety given to me by a minimally-funded detox center, and maintained by a non-profit organization, was all free. I am not going to squander the miracle of sobriety I have been given, and I will never drink again.
Here's a story I share from time to time:
There is a story about men who have lost their legs--and it says they never grow new ones. The moral is that alcoholics will never be non-alcoholics.
Well, my Dad had only one leg, and although he never grew a new one he always had an artificial leg. But the Veteran's Administration is not sufficiently funded, so up to the end of the 20th century (when he died) his legs were made of wood, attached with buckles and leather straps and had an inflexible ankle. Oscar Pistorius's little toe cost more than all the legs dad ever had.
Dad lost his leg fighting for freedom, including the right to drink. Later in life, he fought for social and environmental justice, and he would be happy to know that I was able to find help for my alcoholism when I needed it. The sobriety given to me by a minimally-funded detox center, and maintained by a non-profit organization, was all free. I am not going to squander the miracle of sobriety I have been given, and I will never drink again.
Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Australia
Posts: 211,609
Did you just compare your situation to the Boston Tea Party?....really?
Look, if you feel like a crusader for freedom Alex, then get a lawyer and fight it.
I think you'd be better to put this fire into your recovery tho.
Just my opinion.
Look, if you feel like a crusader for freedom Alex, then get a lawyer and fight it.
I think you'd be better to put this fire into your recovery tho.
Just my opinion.
Recovering ostrich
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Tampa Bay, Florida
Posts: 2,551
Originally Posted by Dee74
Did you just compare your situation to the Boston Tea Party?....really?
.
.
In all seriousness Alex, yes, they can. If I leave the area and get injured, my insurance would only cover a portion of my care. I think you should take the energy and verve that you have for the constitution and put it into your recovery. If you put conditions around your recovery, ie I have to leave the area to get sober, that means you will have conditions to relapse as well.
Grateful to be free
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Arizona
Posts: 3,680
Well, couple thoughts. Yes, if you were in FL and got into a car accident, the insurance company most likely would pay a much smaller percentage of the bill than if you got hurt in your coverage area. I have lived through that scenario.
When we sign up for insurance we usually get a really long boring booklet in legalese that outlines what they will and won't pay for, how, when and all that. We only have a legal leg to stand on if they said they would cover a particular thing, and then they don't. If you have that booklet, take a quick look see over it with a magnifying glass, it might clear some things up.
My last insurance company wouldn't pay a penny for an ER visit, even if it led to a hospital admission. Go figure. but it is what their book said when I signed on, so no matter how messed up it seems to be...that is the agreement I made.
anywho...one thing I have to constantly readdress with myself in recovery is magical thinking...that if I just put the right things together in just the right way they will mystically bring about results I could not get ANY other way...But in the end it's not the magic of the location, or the particular mystic energy of a certain rehab center...it's the decision to quit and recover no matter what, and then putting together whatever resources we have to help ourselves along.
So, I hope you find a way to get into that rehab, but if you don't, your chances of recovery are not in any way diminished, because it is YOU, not the rehab that makes recovery happen.
When we sign up for insurance we usually get a really long boring booklet in legalese that outlines what they will and won't pay for, how, when and all that. We only have a legal leg to stand on if they said they would cover a particular thing, and then they don't. If you have that booklet, take a quick look see over it with a magnifying glass, it might clear some things up.
My last insurance company wouldn't pay a penny for an ER visit, even if it led to a hospital admission. Go figure. but it is what their book said when I signed on, so no matter how messed up it seems to be...that is the agreement I made.
anywho...one thing I have to constantly readdress with myself in recovery is magical thinking...that if I just put the right things together in just the right way they will mystically bring about results I could not get ANY other way...But in the end it's not the magic of the location, or the particular mystic energy of a certain rehab center...it's the decision to quit and recover no matter what, and then putting together whatever resources we have to help ourselves along.
So, I hope you find a way to get into that rehab, but if you don't, your chances of recovery are not in any way diminished, because it is YOU, not the rehab that makes recovery happen.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: Lakeside, Ca
Posts: 10,208
they put this type of medical business out for bid
Originally Posted by Threshold
Yes, if you were in FL and got into a car accident, the insurance company most likely would pay a much smaller percentage of the bill than if you got hurt in your coverage area.
from my understanding with most insurance companies
If I'm traveling out of state and get hurt
my insurance will pick up the full bill
but
if I move to another state where they don't have my insurance company
it's on me to pay the bills if hurt
but
rehab is considered much different
these are offered only through approved programs
these places of approved rehab may change from year to year
reason
they put this type of medical business out for bid each year or two
whichever rehab in the area will give them the best bang for the buck
get's the contract
here in the USA it's the ((common)) American way of business
If I'm traveling out of state and get hurt
my insurance will pick up the full bill
but
if I move to another state where they don't have my insurance company
it's on me to pay the bills if hurt
but
rehab is considered much different
these are offered only through approved programs
these places of approved rehab may change from year to year
reason
they put this type of medical business out for bid each year or two
whichever rehab in the area will give them the best bang for the buck
get's the contract
here in the USA it's the ((common)) American way of business
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 65
Sometimes I get stuck on Ideas and go on a rant when I know I'm right, I guess I will change my address if I stay bent on rehab in Florida.
I got an Rx for detox meds and hope this is my last go at this.
Thanks everyone.
I got an Rx for detox meds and hope this is my last go at this.
Thanks everyone.
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