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My wife has called over 10 therapists in the last few months. All of them have had no openings for new patients unless you agree to see them off the insurance.

My wife has called over 10 therapists in the last few months. All of them have had no openings for new patients unless you agree to see them off the insurance. The rejection from so many therapists is taking it's toll. It's even more depressing to get up the motivation to research a new batch of therapists, get up the nerve to call, only to be rejected again. The act of finding a therapist is more depressing than just having depression.

didgeoridoo 8y ago
That is technically insurance fraud. As a provider, when you accept insurance from a specific company you sign a contract that says you are required to accept that insurance as payment if you see a client who is a customer of that insurance company. You cannot hold specific "insurance" and "cash pay" slots. A large practice in Boston is being investigated for this right now, and it might put them out of business.
- uxp100 8y ago
  Is it fraud to have cash pay slots that require you not have insurance? From your description it sounds like it isn't. They might (They do, this has happened to me, and the end result was not getting care I needed, but anyway) suggest you not inform them of your insurance, then it's your fraud, not theirs.
  - didgeoridoo 8y ago
    As a provider, if you do this you're putting yourself at massive risk. A patient could at any point (maybe you annoyed them that day) decide to request reimbursement from their insurance for your past sessions with them. That would probably trigger an audit, and could get you kicked off the insurance panel — and worse, be on the hook to pay back the insurance company for every cash payment you took that should have been covered.
icantdrive55 8y ago
I don't know your location, but call local colleges that offers a degree program for an MFCC license. The student are in their last year of training. The conversations are recorded, and listened to by a licensed therapist. I found the $350 hr. "Doctor" to be just as effective as the $15 hr. student therapist. (The sessions are 50 minutes) In all honestly, I didn't find therapy helpful, but you need to go through it in order to realize yourself if it has any value. Oh yea, in order to see most Psychiatrists, they want you to see a MFCC first. Then they usually put you on a drug that takes six weeks to work. They never worked on myself. I must have tried 10 different tricyclics/heterocyclic anti-depressants. Nothing helped. I'm now on two very addictive medications, and trying to taper off them. I just have a feeling my Psychiatrist is getting ready to retire. I'll apologies in advance to the Psychology students. I know the profession means well. You sound like a caring husband. That's Huge. Having an emphatic person in your life is so important. In my case, my problem was debilitating anxiety, and when my life fell apart because I went from the most capable guy in a room to a trembling mess. That's when the depression hit. When the depression hit, I was kinda relieved, but it just stayed there. I ended up seeing a a few Psychistrists. It's so much of an art, even though they had so much science in school. And yes--most medicine relies on placebo too. I know. I've probally said too much now?
JoblessWonder 8y ago
That sounds horrible. It gets to one of the main problems with finding a therapist where you do some research and find someone that you think you will connect with, then reach out and risk rejection because they are full or don't have availability when you need it. Even if they offer you a referral it isn't the person who you were excited (on some level) about. My wife is a therapist and tries to prevent this by being as transparent as possible. She posts her rates, her calendar, and makes it very clear that she is private pay only on her website. By the time someone reaches out to her, they usually know that it is going to work because they have had the opportunity to see all of that information.

didgeoridoo 8y ago

That is technically insurance fraud. As a provider, when you accept insurance from a specific company you sign a contract that says you are required to accept that insurance as payment if you see a client who is a customer of that insurance company. You cannot hold specific "insurance" and "cash pay" slots. A large practice in Boston is being investigated for this right now, and it might put them out of business.

uxp100 8y ago
Is it fraud to have cash pay slots that require you not have insurance? From your description it sounds like it isn't. They might (They do, this has happened to me, and the end result was not getting care I needed, but anyway) suggest you not inform them of your insurance, then it's your fraud, not theirs.
- didgeoridoo 8y ago
  As a provider, if you do this you're putting yourself at massive risk. A patient could at any point (maybe you annoyed them that day) decide to request reimbursement from their insurance for your past sessions with them. That would probably trigger an audit, and could get you kicked off the insurance panel — and worse, be on the hook to pay back the insurance company for every cash payment you took that should have been covered.

icantdrive55 8y ago

I don't know your location, but call local colleges that offers a degree program for an MFCC license. The student are in their last year of training. The conversations are recorded, and listened to by a licensed therapist. I found the $350 hr. "Doctor" to be just as effective as the $15 hr. student therapist. (The sessions are 50 minutes) In all honestly, I didn't find therapy helpful, but you need to go through it in order to realize yourself if it has any value. Oh yea, in order to see most Psychiatrists, they want you to see a MFCC first. Then they usually put you on a drug that takes six weeks to work. They never worked on myself. I must have tried 10 different tricyclics/heterocyclic anti-depressants. Nothing helped. I'm now on two very addictive medications, and trying to taper off them. I just have a feeling my Psychiatrist is getting ready to retire. I'll apologies in advance to the Psychology students. I know the profession means well. You sound like a caring husband. That's Huge. Having an emphatic person in your life is so important. In my case, my problem was debilitating anxiety, and when my life fell apart because I went from the most capable guy in a room to a trembling mess. That's when the depression hit. When the depression hit, I was kinda relieved, but it just stayed there. I ended up seeing a a few Psychistrists. It's so much of an art, even though they had so much science in school. And yes--most medicine relies on placebo too. I know. I've probally said too much now?

JoblessWonder 8y ago

That sounds horrible. It gets to one of the main problems with finding a therapist where you do some research and find someone that you think you will connect with, then reach out and risk rejection because they are full or don't have availability when you need it. Even if they offer you a referral it isn't the person who you were excited (on some level) about. My wife is a therapist and tries to prevent this by being as transparent as possible. She posts her rates, her calendar, and makes it very clear that she is private pay only on her website. By the time someone reaches out to her, they usually know that it is going to work because they have had the opportunity to see all of that information.