Charging me 500 dollars

[Anonymous]

My doctor has referred me to someone who charges 500 dollars over and above OHIP. Is this what I have to do to get diagnosed? I posted this on the “ask an expert” forum. Didn’t get a lot of response. Any thoughts?

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[Anonymous]

These fees are often covered through benefits, so check it out with your provider. If you don’t have coverage through employment benefits, perhaps Blue Cross or another carrier may cover all or part of this for you. As well, those enrolled in social services may have access to no-cost evaluations. It may be worth checking in to some of these services in your area; if one call doesn’t have what you’re looking for, they may know of another resource.

The initial evaluation our son had was done by the school board psychologist a few years back, and did not cost us anything; however, the waiting list was so long, and when we asked if there was any way to speed things up, we were told that most private insurance would cover it. Not all plans do, and when this changed, we had a second, private evaluation done. It was so much more thorough than the original one that even if I had to pay on my own, I would have gladly done so.

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[Anonymous]

If you’re going to pay this out-of-pocket, I’d recommend shopping around for psychiatric testing. The more thorough the assessment(s), the better off you’ll be in the long run. Since ADHD is likely be accompanied by other disorders and all feed into each other, it’s important to consider the whole when seeking a treatment plan. This could end up costing more but getting a clearer and detailed picture in this case is quite helpful.

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[purlgurl]

I had to pay out-of-pocket for diagnostic testing – not covered by OHIP, and not covered by my husband’s (really good) health insurance. I think it cost around $300.

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[Anonymous]

I just got off the phone with someone who was charging $2950. My poor financial habits have not exactly put me in an ideal situation to pay that much for an assessment. Even $500 seems like a lot (better, though, by comparison). I’m not cheap- just burdened by debt. Oy, it’s a tough road ahead!

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[Anonymous]

Okay, so I actually did find someone in the GTA who’s charging $150 for an assessment…I’ll let you know how that works out.

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[Anonymous]

Ok Ok Ok? Charging for diagnostic testing for ADHD? Pardon the strong chat abbreviation but WTF!? You do live in Canada right?

I just got tested at the local mental health clinic at the hospital and it didn’t cost a thing…

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[Anonymous]

I went to my general practitioner doctor and basically just told him my life story (the short version . He agreed that I’m ADHD, and he wrote it down in my record as a diagnosis. He wasn’t careless about his diagnosis, because it was a fairly in depth conversation we had, but based on my history and our conversation, he was convinced that my case was genuine.

Cheers,

CET

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[Patte Rosebank]

@CET, that’s pretty much how it was for me. I was already seeing a psychiatrist for depression & anxiety, and when my brother found the Toronto Star interview with Rick, he sent it to me and said, “This sounds just like you!” I looked into it, did the diagnostics on this website, scored 100%, and took the results to my psych. He asked me some deep questions about my thoughts, behaviours, and experiences from the time I was a kid until now. Based on my answers, he concluded that we could very safely assume that I did indeed have ADHD Combined Subtype, and that it was a significant impairment on my ability to function and my ability to enjoy life.

I just re-read an assessment I got from a psychologist, about 10 years ago, and, though it officially diagnosed me with depression and anxiety, it also contained many items which, today, strongly support my now-recent diagnosis of ADHD.

As for those specialists charging over & above what OHIP covers, it’s simply a matter of supply-and-demand, coupled with more of a desire to make money than to help people. When there are so very few specialists out there, those few can basically charge whatever people are desperate enough to pay.

It’s like diamonds and oil. Both are actually extremely common, but 98% of their supply & distribution is very tightly controlled by cartels like DeBeers (diamonds) and OPEC (oil). By only releasing a very small amount into the market at a time, they keep the supply very low, thus forcing buyers to pay whatever DeBeers or OPEC demands, because they’re pretty much the only game in town.

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[Ivriniel]

ShaneG, it all depends on who is doing the assessment, and whether or not they are covered by OHIP.

My assessment was done by a Psychologist, so I had to pay out of pocket. It cost my $3000, but that was because I had a full Psychoeducational Assessment on top of ADHD assessment. I had an Wechlser Adult Intelligence Scale (a type of IQ test) done, as well as a variety of other assessments. The end result is that I was diagnosed with an LD as well as ADHD, so I’m glad I did it.

I talked to other people who would do Psychoeducational Testing for cheaper, but decided in the end to go with the person I did, because I was using my resulting diagnosis with my employer to get workplace accomodations, and wanted to do as much as I could to make sure they wouldn’t dispute my diagnosis. The other people who were cheaper had Masters of Psychology vs. my Psychologist’s P.hD.

Also my Psychologist was referred to me by a friend with an NLD, who had in turn selected the Doctor because she had been the expert witness in a landmark case on workplace accomodations against the Federal government.

One would hope that a School Board would give accomodations without too much hassle, but about the time I was diagnosed ,there was a teacher who asked for accomodations for some sort of mental illness. The board disputed his diagnosis, and made him go “their” clinic for assessment. Whoever saw him at their clinic declared him was unfit to teach, and the board fired him. Last I heard the Union was fighting to get him reinstated. So I didn’t want to go through any of that crap if I could avoid it.

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[Anonymous]

Make sure this is someone who is totally tuned in to true ADD/ADHD.

Horrible long story short, many moons ago my father inlaw recognized me as ADHD literally within 15 minutes of meeting me. After a few years of flailing about, I finally recognized the need for a change.

I went to Frances Goff, Ph.D., HSPP, who was not “totally tuned into true ADD/ADHD”. She gave me a litany of absolutely ridiculous tests (tests of course I become so zoned out by that I started just randomly answering), then after two return visits, she determined that I wasn’t ADHD but perhaps I had some sort of brain damage since the scores were so low on the test (UHH HINT I MIGHT NOT HAVE CONCENTRATED ON THE TEST?!) or that I was bi-polar. Moreover, she made a point of airing her suspicions that I was drug seeking. This cost my father-in-law more than $500, and I even had some sort of basic coverage at the time. How do you think I felt after that? Oh, not only am I “not” ADHD, I’m also retarded. Confirmed all my fears.

Finally we went to somebody who was a specialist, and same thing, after 10 minutes of talking he could just “see” it. And obviously there was a light-bulb effect after I found the right medicine.

With as much media hype is given to the “Ritalin Generation” I understand the scrutiny that you have to use, but come on. One of my good friends said about me after the fact, “when I met you I new you didn’t need stimulants. You WERE a stimulant.”

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[Anonymous]

I was tested by a psychiatrist, and I’m not really sure what the fee was for, but he did a good job. It wasn’t a battery of tests, but it was pretty thorough, and he is cautiously trying me on different medications.

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[Anonymous]

I haven’t been diagnosed, but we had our son undergo a complete psychoeducational assessment…that was not covered by my insurance plan. Stupidly enough, my plan covers $1000 in speech therapy (????), but won’t cover a test to diagnose a life-impairing condition. ANYway, we forked over the $1200 and got it done. Turned out he has ADHD and a non-verbal learning disorder…and possibly mild Asperger’s (although it wasn’t enough to warrant a diagnosis as such). Now it’s been great that suddenly certain doors have been opened for us at his schools – he has access to resources that he would otherwise not – and he also found out that in some areas of his IQ test he tested much higher than average – but it was still $1200. Now that he’s a teen and he has matured so much, we probably should have him reassessed to see how his needs have changed. But the idea of paying that amound again (or more) makes me flinch.

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