Let’s Talk Insurance
To take insurance or not to take insurance… There is a common and frequent debate amongst mental health professionals regarding insurance versus private pay. Clinicians often find themselves stuck in a position of wanting to be accessible to clients while wanting to advocate for freedom to practice without the limits of joining an insurance board.
Insurance in the mental health field is complicated. There are benefits to insurance for clients and clinicians. Seeing an in-network counselor may lower session costs for clients because insurance might help cover part of the fee. It also provides an automatic marketing tool for clients to easily find in-network providers. The other side to this is clinicians are not reimbursed their full rate (if they are reimbursed at all). Insurance companies monitor how counselors provide treatment for their clients. Client records are shared with insurance, so clients have less privacy. Clinicians have a lot less autonomy for how and when they treat their clients. Insurance requires a diagnosis in order to reimbursement the counselor, which can be unnecessary and lead to stigma and labels placed on the client for the sake of reimbursement. All of this ultimately impacts client’s care.
I planned for years to start my own counseling practice and have debated how I would move forward: join insurance boards or bill as private pay. I ultimately decided to start a private pay practice and have determined to not take insurance at this time. This may change in the future, but for right now, it is the best decision for my clients and for myself. This decision has not come without a lot of thoughtful considerations, back and forth, hesitations, and some worries. Alongside all of this, there is freedom, flexibility, and ownership in this decision. There is freedom to practice in a way that is helpful and catered to my clients; flexibility in how I am able to bill and spend my admin hours; and ownership in how I run my practice without having to answer to an insurance board that does not have the best interest of my client’s care. I have the freedom to provide care that is truly tailored to my clients, flexibility in how I bill and manage administrative tasks, and full ownership over my practice without needing to answer to an insurance board that may not prioritize my clients’ best interests. And I created the opportunity to provide sliding scale spots for clients that may not be able to pay the full session fee.
Private pay counseling may be right for you if you value more privacy and want to avoid a forced diagnosis on your medical record. It allows you to decide when and how often you meet with your counselor without being limited by the number of sessions your insurance will cover. You have the freedom to choose the clinician you connect with best rather than being restricted to an insurance network. Private pay means less paperwork, no insurance authorizations, and faster access to care when you need it most.
No matter where you are at, I’d be happy to work with you or find other options that fit with your counseling and financial goals. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. My contact information is below!