Frequently Asked Questions
You pay a lot for your insurance and it’s understandable that you want to use it when you see your doctor. What you may not know is how troublesome insurance companies can be when it comes to mental health: it’s invasive, it’s costly, and it strips me—your doctor—of my autonomy of care. Let me explain how.
Insurance companies require me to fax personal information about my patients on a regular basis, and this creates a vicious circle: the more sensitive the information sent, the more sessions the insurance will allow. However, the more sensitive the information, the more uncomfortable I am in releasing it. Furthermore, the extensive paperwork required by insurance companies translates to a higher cost of care for patients because of the office staff required to manage it. And finally, insurance companies dictate the number of sessions and time frame allowed for a patient to improve. This takes the care out of my hands and places it under the authority of the non-practitioner.
To not accept insurance is a choice I have made in my practice after much experience and consideration. For more information, read How Much Privacy is Enough Privacy for Mental Health Patients? on the Psychology Today website.
