Antidepressants hazardous to health care coverage

As reported in the San Francisco Chronicle

With nearly 19 million Americans under a diagnosis of depression, antidepressant use is skyrocketing in the United States. The newer antidepressants are the second most commonly prescribed class of drugs in the country, according IMS Health, a firm that tracks the pharmaceutical industry.

However, people with individual insurance are vulnerable to rejection or higher rates due to any number of pre-existing conditions because, unlike group plans, they must answer detailed questions about their medical history to qualify.

Those with pre-existing conditions such as serious heart problems or a history of cancer may not be surprised to be rejected, but millions of Americans taking antidepressants for a variety of reasons -- from anxiety to a bout of minor depression following a divorce or even to smoking cessation -- may be shocked to have that prescription come back to haunt them.

The Insurance Companies remain skeptial of the wisdom of such wide spread prescriptions of such expensive medications, as well they should, and this is back firing of people who have been prescribed the drugs