Insurance payments for psychotherapy do not provide a living wage.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/paradigm-shift/201905/cant-find-psychologist-who-accepts-insurance-heres-why
A very sad truth. I paid a lot of money for therapy that transformed my life. I know how lucky I am to have been able to do so. I hate that it’s not available to everyone.
Society does not always place appropriate monetary values on so many things. A long list. I irks me how business makes so much money. I guess their purpose IS to make money, but it is at the expense of everybody else. Obscene money to people how really contribute so little. I could rant on and on.
A psychologist once told me – and it made total sense – that he didn’t trust insurance companies to keep private that the patient is seeking psychological help. He felt it could be used against the patient in the future, when looking for a new job, for example.
So when my son needed counseling/therapy, we paid privately for that reason.
@katliamom I am so glad you were able to pay for your son’s therapy. But what about people for whom paying that kind of money every week would have to stop buying food?
I read a bunch of whining here. If you don’t like insurance reimbursement, don’t sign a contract with the insurance companies. Simple.
A “bunch” of whining? There are not even any psychologists posting on the thread, so who is “whining”?
I agree that it is unfortunate that mental health treatment is out of reach for so many. It might explain some of the problems in our society.
Same goes for psychiatrists.
Sry, I meant the article was whining…not the posters herein.
^^^^^^Ahhh, ok.
The whole mental health insurance thing is horrible. 7 Years ago we had to deal with my S who was flunking out of college. Smart kid. Full merit tuition scholarship at stake. We flew him home, had him tested to find out he was a Mensa type kid who got bored with trivial assignments. He is now in the trades. But, those weekly meeting with metal health providers had to be paid out of pocket at $185 per week and reimbursed months later at 80%. Trying to find a provider who is a good fit and works with your health insurance is enough to push me over the edge!
Mental health has typically been something that is not well compensated by insurance. Since the ACA, at least now it can’t be excluded or paid at a lower percentage than other types of medical coverage.
The bigger problem that I see is that therapist can only see one client per hour. I suspect that the are reimbursed at around the same as any office call at a doctor or such as physical therapy. But a doctor or a physical therapist sees more than one client per hour.
I have a relative who is a physical therapist. When she was talking about to a private therapy group, they expect their therapist to see 3.1 clients per hour. You see the client, access them, give them exercises to do and then they work out on machines. A doctor sees patients at more than one per hour during office hours.
And with the medical records laws in place now, everything has to be documented and filed. Plus billing. But a therapist has the same rent and overhead, no matter how many patients they see per week. So I suspect to make a living wage they have to see more patients.
But it’s very hard not to accept insurance especially in certain parts of the country.
My opinion, I don’t see things getting better, in fact I see reimbursements getting worse. As our health care will have to change. And many think our doctors and medical professionals are making too much as it is. But they only see a sliver of what is required.
You were lucky to get reimbursed that much! We pay almost full price.
Neither of my providers deal with insurance. They don’t want the insurance telling them what they can and can’t do, especially releasing treatment notes. We pay the provider and get reimbursed at out-of-network rates, plus any difference between the charged rate and R&C. Fortunately, the rate my MSW charges equals R&C, so I pay 25%. There are a number of docs I see who are in my network, but there are a couple who are so essential that I pay the difference. Turnaround on reimbursement is about three weeks, once I mail the invoice.
My psychologist spouse not only accepts insurance, but since one of his patients lost his insurance a year or so ago, he has continued seeing him for just $20 a visit.
But then again, I am a public school teacher, so neither of us chose our profession for the money. We still have managed well enough to send our kid to a top college at full pay. We do without some luxuries, but we are doing what we love and making a difference in the world.
But it is nice to hear the support for psychologists in this thread!
When my son first got on Medicaid, his psychiatrist didn’t accept it but he continued to see DS for a couple of years at no charge. Then he started taking Medicaid.