DSPS-HMO coverage of light box?
Question:
Eileen, In article <32F8CD14.3…@mit.edu>, Eileen Francis <efran…@mit.edu> writes: >Has anyone been able to convice an insurance company/HMO to cover the >purchase of a light box as treatment for Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome? >I’m having trouble with my HMO. If I needed the light box for seasonal >depression, I would have it already. However, after six weeks of delay, >they have denied my claim saying they need "clinical evidence" that >light therapy is an effective treatment for this sleep disorder.
Shouldn’t your doctor who prescribed the light box be doing battle for you? He/she has access to the medical literature and should be able to cite references and explain the risks/benefits of non-treatment/treatment to convince the HMO to pay. I suggest you ask your doctor to write a stern, detailed letter. If that doesn’t work, a book entitled BODYRHYTHMS: Chronobiology and Peak Performance, by Lynne Lamberg (Morrow, 1994), discusses DSPS in understandable terms and is full of useful references. However, you may need more up-to-date references. There is a Society for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms (I’m not sure if I got that title right) that you should be able to find on the WWW (look in the Sleepnet site), and they should have lots of info. Best wishes, Saly
Response:
I too have difficulty falling asleep at night (went to bed at 5:30 am last night). My brother who works at a pharmacutical company gave me a copy of a book called Beyond Prozac by Michael J. Norden MD. The book had several areas on SAD. There was two listing in the reference section that might be of use to you. The companies listed for the light boxes were: Apollo Light Systems 352 W 1060 South Orem, UT 84058 (801)226-2370 Hughes Lighting Technologies Yacht Club Drive Lake Hopatcong NJ 07849 (201)663-1214 The SunBox Company 19217 Orbit Drive Gaithersburg, MD 20879 (800)548-3968 There was also a device mentioned called the Dawn Simulator. This device supposedly gradually emits a bright light to signal your body that dawn is coming. The two companies listed for these devices were Pi Square Inc (Sun-Up) 11036 1st South Seattle, WA (800)786-3296 And the SunBox Company mentioned above. The copyright of the book was 1995 so hopefully the info is still up to date. I have not personally checked into this but am planning to inquire about the Dawn Simulators. Good luck.
Response:
What is the address of this web page?
Response:
Has anyone been able to convice an insurance company/HMO to cover the purchase of a light box as treatment for Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome? I’m having trouble with my HMO. If I needed the light box for seasonal depression, I would have it already. However, after six weeks of delay, they have denied my claim saying they need "clinical evidence" that light therapy is an effective treatment for this sleep disorder. I found a few abstracts on the net, via the BiblioSleep search engine (at http://bisleep.medsch.ucla.edu/htdocs/Bibliosleep.html), but that wasn’t enough. Any ideas? Thank you in advance Eileen Francis P.S. Big thanks to Su-Laine Yeo for creating the Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome homepage. Before I read that info, I thought I was the only one around struggling with this, and that there was nothing that could be done — besides buying louder and louder alarm clocks. I can only imagine what my neighbors are thinking when they hear the morning cacophony of my 4-5 alarms going off!
