A Few Words about Insurance...

I take a few insurances, but I prefer not to. I don't feel they respect the client and the therapist. They require at least a diagnosis, which may end up on your record and be seen by future insurers or employers. It usually takes several months to receive reimbursement. Often insurances do a lot of game playing, to delay having to reimburse either the client or the therapist. They seem to hope you will get frustrated and give up.

HMO's are the worst offenders. The reason it is hard to find a good therapist with an HMO is that they don't pay well, they require frequent reauthorizations, and they decide from some formula (not on an individual basis) how many visits a patient is allowed. They discourage using any more than 15 sessions, including visits to the psychiatrist. They require a lot of information from therapists that is uncomfortable to provide, because it violates confidentiality. Basically, the clinics who provide services for HMO have you sign away your confidentiality. (Have you read the forms you are signing?) Sure you only have a $15 co-pay, but what are you getting? The trade off is quality of care and sacrificing privacy. All the therapists I respect (with a few exceptions) have left clinics and HMO's.