Why Psychiatrists Typically Don’t Take Insurance
Many people are surprised to discover that psychiatrists and other therapists commonly don’t take health insurance in their practices. You pay an expensive monthly premium that covers other medical services, so why is it so hard to find someone that will take your insurance? In this post, I explain what is going on and what you can do about it.
Confidentiality
When working with a psychiatrist, you share private information, that most would prefer be kept confidential. However, in order to process an insurance claim, psychiatrists must send your diagnosis and treatment notes to your insurance company. Your insurance company then has access to your private information.
Additionally, many people choose to explore therapy for personal growth and wellbeing. In order for your psychiatrist to submit an insurance claim, they MUST provide a billable mental health diagnosis, even if there isn’t one. Thus, it’s possible despite not having a mental health condition, your psychiatrist will be put in an ethically challenging position of creating a diagnosis that becomes a part of your permanent mental health record.
If you have a mental health condition on your medical record, this will need to be disclosed in the future, should you ever choose to apply for life insurance or disability insurance. Certain professional licenses also require the disclosure of mental health conditions.
Lower Quality Care
A little known fact, but insurance companies often regulate the number of sessions a patient is allowed to have with their doctor. If you need more sessions, your doctor may not be able to provide you with the care you need when you need it most.
Additionally, insurance companies may mandate the types of treatments you are eligible for. If a psychiatrist takes health insurance, in order to get paid for their work, they must provide services that are covered by the health insurance plan. The care your doctor recommends, may or may not be covered.
Time
Many psychiatrists and psychologists choose to work in small private practices. Large medical offices typically hire full time staff that are well trained to work with insurance companies to submit claims and receive payments. Each insurance company has different policies for how to go about this process, making the world of insurance very confusing to navigate. Many therapists are unable to spend a large percentage of their work week on the phone with insurance companies, as this would limit the time available to be with their patients.
In Conclusion
Insurance companies are required to provide access to in network psychiatrists, that can see you in a reasonable amount of time. Yet I hear far too often that either in network psychiatrists have waiting lists that are months long, or they are impossible to find. Insurance companies publish long lists of “available” psychiatrists on their website. However, when patients try to call doctors on the list, the doctors have died, retired, are full, or are no longer taking their health insurance plan.
In my practice, I work directly with my patients to determine the best care needed. I refuse to sacrifice the quality of care simply to meet insurance company billing regulations.
Understandably, you may be worried about paying for a psychiatrist’s services, if the psychiatrist is not covered by your health plan. If you decide to seek treatment from a psychiatrist that is “out of network” with your plan, I recommend pursuing out of network services with your health insurance provider. If your health plan qualifies, you can request a copy of the receipt (“superbill”) from your doctor to submit to your health insurance company for reimbursement. Please contact your health insurance company directly to find out if you qualify and for how much.
To view fees for Dr. Turner’s clinic: click here.
