Neuropsychological tests, or (Neuropsyche for short) are tests often requested by insurers as Independent Medical Evaluations for mental health claims. While they aren’t quite as popular today as in the past due to their cost, claims with wealthy benefits are still at risk.
Despite the fact that insurance companies still sell Neuropsyche tests as “objective evidence”, they clearly are not. In fact, Neuropsyche tests can be manipulated by the evaluator, in this case, a neuropsychologist hired by an insurance company.
Neuropsyche IMEs are commonly used to evaluate mental health issues as well as cognitive decline, organic brain disease, and other diagnoses dealing with dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Disability insurers also use the tests in a variety of adverse ways to determine malingering, somataform reactions and executive decision making.
As I mentioned, Neuropshche tests are NOT objective evidence. The evaluator hired by the insurance company selects a “battery of tests” designed to evaluate a diagnoses and compares the results with nationalized statistics to make decisions as to the condition of the brain, and whether or not insureds can work.
Let’s think about this. A representative neuropsychologist paid by the insurance industry chooses the “battery” of tests to evaluate your claimed disability. Time and again, it was found that insurance evaluators did NOT in fact choose the right “battery of tests” to evaluate fibromyalgia and many other cognition problems. In reality, insureds were “set-up” from the beginning by insurance docs who simply documented whatever results insurers wanted to deny claims.
Although I am not permitted to mention the company, there is at least one Neuropsyche Agency out there that specifically trains its evaluators how to choose tests that produce adverse results for insureds. Then, the evaluators are given “grades” on how well they were able to write their final reports for the insurance company that hired them. And, these tests aren’t “set-ups” for insureds?
You bet they are. Most insurance companies also hire experienced neuropsychologists that are well familiar with denial lingo. They know exactly what to write in their final reports to support mental cognitive disability because they were trained what tests to choose.
In addition, these biased evaluators also use their so-called objective statistics to conclude insureds are malingering or “imagine”, exaggerate, or just make-up symptoms in their own minds. Although neuropsyche tests were never intended to be used to evaluate “malingering”, it is surprising how often these reports document it.
Neuropsyche tests requested by treating physicians are performed by evaluators who sincerely choose a “diagnostic battery of tests” and render sound opinions based on the results. Usually, neuropsyche tests are performed a year later and results are compared to the baseline. Tests performed by evaluators outside of the insurance industry have no prejudicial interest in “setting up” the patient for adverse results. However, Neuropsyche Tests performed at the request of an insurance company are nothing more than biased reports deliberately designed to support denials. IDI claims with greater than $5,000 in monthly benefit are particularly susceptible to Neuropsyche IMEs.
Although Neuropsyche evaluations are not requested as often as they used to be, it is important for all insureds to safeguard and protect their interests whenever asked to submit to this kind of test. The original data consisting of all testing material should be requested and sent to an objective neuropsychologist for evaluation, a second opinion, if you will.
It is important to remember that insurance companies are not above manipulating test data to obtain the results they are looking for. Neuropsychological IMEs are definitely in that category.
