Question about prescription coverage for drugs

My health insurance is such that I am covered for physical health and prescriptions, but I am not covered for mental health. In light of that, this is my question: if I go to a psychiatrist, although I have to pay out of pocket for that office visit, will any prescriptions I get from the psychiatrist, for say, ADHD drugs like Adderall, be covered by my prescription coverage? My primary care physician has prescribed Xanax to me before, which was covered. However, I wonder if it is important to my insurance company whether the prescribing physician is a mental health physician or a regular physician (such as my PCP)? So, I'm scared that they won't cover prescriptions written out by psychiatrists. Does anyone know what the deal is? Any advice/enlightenment will be appreciated.

Any MD can write a prescription -- it shouldn't matter what kind of MD they are.

You might want to call your insurance company just to be sure.

I know that. My question is more about whether prescriptions written by certain doctors are not covered b/c they are mental health professionals. Mental health is not covered by my health insurance. I am aware that I'll have to pay for office visits but was hoping that any prescriptions I get from the psychiatrist will be covered. Thanks.

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candybear said:
Any MD can write a prescription -- it shouldn't matter what kind of MD they are.

You might want to call your insurance company just to be sure.

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I understood your question and my answer was that if you have prescription coverage, all prescriptions should be covered regardless of where they came from. Check with your insurance company to be sure.

Candybear, thank you for the clarification and for your response! This definitely eases my anxiety (haha, as someone who actually has really bad anxiety/panic attacks).

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candybear said:
I understood your question and my answer was that if you have prescription coverage, all prescriptions should be covered regardless of where they came from. Check with your insurance company to be sure.

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Mavenfp, I would doublecheck your insurance to make sure psychiatrist visits are not covered. For example, my insurance covers a psychiatrist visit (e.g. for meds, not psychotherapy) as a medical visit not a mental health visit. The coverage depends on the service/treatment the person provides, not necessarily their job title. So are you really sure a psychiatrist is not covered if his function is just to provide meds? If you call your insurance to inquire, try to use words like these:
"is my visit to a psychiatrist for the purpose of obtaining medication considered a MEDICAL visit or a MENTAL HEALTH visit?"

Good luck. I have spent some time hassling with two insurance companies trying to get mental health coverage, so I love to see them pay what they are supposed to. They will give you the runaround if they are able to.

Hey Maven its me again...
I have a pharmacy background and I can tell you this. Some insurance companies are really picky. When I used to fill prescriptions where I worked, sometimes the insurance would send me a rejected claim saying 'provider not covered'; it was rare but it did happen. If that is the case, you can always try generic Adderall (that's what I use and it totally works).

If you have a Costco or a Sam's near you, they have the cheapest generic drug prices! Hope this helps!

Hey everybody, thanks for your input. I called my insurance company and it turns out that they pay for all prescriptions no matter what, but i'll have to pay out-of-pocket for office visits. not the most ideal, but i was most concerned about gettings psychotropics covered. Thanks again