Cost of a Diagnosis

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After reading a recent post from someone asking about getting a diagnosis, I decided to look into the matter for them.

I was quite shocked to learn, the average cost of a "proper" evaluation, is $4,000 USD

To put that in perspective...

You can have one gene sequenced for $1,000
If you made $10 an hour, after federal taxes alone, you would have to work 512.8 hours more than you would to meet your living expenses.If you had to work 8 hours a day to meet your living expenses, you would have to work 12 hours a day for 128.2 days to save up for an evaluation.

If you could only manage to save $50 from each paycheck, it would take you 6.6 years to save up for an evaluation.

$4,000 can feed one person in the US for 11 months.

$4,000 can sponsor 11 children in Africa for a year.

$4,000 can buy a 4 week trip to Hawaii from California.

$4,000 can pay your cell phone bill for 800 months.

$4,000 can get you $1486.98 gallons of gas...today.

$4,000 can pay college tuition at a university for almost a year.

$4,000 can get you a used car.

$4,000 can pay health insurance for almost 2 years (good luck getting them to cover an evaluation).

And thus I have figured out why there are more services for children than adults. In most western countries, it's the law that all children must go to school, it's the government's responsibility to address anything that impedes this, so children who are "difficult" often get medical care or subsidized health care from the state to address this. In most instances, the state pays for all evaluations and treatment under some state medical program...in California it's Medi-Cal through county health departments.

Adults, on the other hand, do not have such resources. Adults have to pay for such services, out of pocket our through private insurance, and most adults only have private insurance if they have a job to pay for it and provide it, and most adults with AS have difficulties keeping jobs.

Thus it's not profitable to provide services to adults with AS.

I cost much more then that a year with my diagnoses and work everyday so I do not cost people money.

Hi,

Are you ready to listen what I am going to say? Okay, let's go!
All the people who want to be diagnosed have to come in France, because... IT'S FREE!! !

Take care

If that's true I'm going to cancel my appointment on Monday. Was supposed to be getting evaluated/diagnosed for AS, and apparently it would take 4h, but if it costs that much then no thanks.

Hi, I moved to France 3 years ago. I display most, if not all, Asperger's Syndrome symptoms and was diagnosed with ADHD as a child.
Could you please tell me where I'm supposed to go to get diagnosed? I don't have the French passport yet.

Sure!

In almost every region, you can find an institute named CRA (for Centre Ressources Autisme). I choose mine in Nice (in a children hospital), because I live in Corsica, it was the nearest center. I sent them a mail to be diagnosed. We arranged meetings, interviews and tests and voilà!

You don't have your passport yet? I don't know if it is important.
As far as I am concerned, they asked me my vital card ("carte vitale"), a green chip card where there is all your medical files, your social insurance number and which allows the Center to join the "Sécurité Sociale" (social security administration (?) ) directly by the "Net".
You have to have this card. With it in hand, you pay nothing, because of the french status of this kind of diagnosis... Complicated administration stuff, by the way...
I don't know if I am clear enough... So sorry about that.

You can send me questions if you want more information!

Except France often still has some really messed-up psychoanalytic ideas about autism that might not fit with the same kind of diagnosis you'd get somewhere that knows it's neurological.

$4000 is not necessarily true. The practice I am going to a practice that charges less than $1000.

Thanks a lot, this helped.
Yes, I have the 'carte vitale'.

Good Point!

Actually, there are two "Schools" of Psychiatry:
- Neuro-psychiatry: with autism specialists, specialists in neurology and neuropsychiatry, who gave me the diagnosis.
- The old psychoanalysis: with the followers of Freud and all that kind of stuff.

So, yes, there are specialists in Neuropsychiatry, able to give you tests, interviews etc... and finally give you, I think, a quite right diagnosis...

AAAaaaahhh this very old Europe...

YOU'RE WELCOME!

It seems to be the average cost. I should have clarified, I was thinking of adults, specifically. There are a multitude of clinics for children and so those would have more competitive costs, however it's quite rare to find someone who is qualified to deal with adults.

Well I'm hoping I'm lucky, then. I start tomorrow. The bio on the doc says he specializes in autism. The practice was referred by Autistic Services in Erie County. I've heard that such services can be much more expensive in places like New York City.

In the semi-urban midwest it will run you about 2 grand.

In the UK, it's my impression that the NHS covers it (especially if on benefits). Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I am about to go for a diagnosis I am having it done on the NHS.