Cost Of Therapy

[Lotis]

Hi All,

Just wondering how much or how little people spend on therapy. Mental Health care in the US quite frankly stinks! I have been fortunate enough to have spent 10 years with a wonderful Psychologist who took my insurance even though she got paid crap from the insurance company. After a tragic event I had to stop seeing her. Then I started up with someone else who also took my insurance but that went really wrong. So now I am wondering where to go from here. I am really struggling. I have exhausted my list of in network providers in my area.
Where I live, anyone who is an expert in trauma, dissociation etc does not take insurance (specifically my insurance). Out of pocket costs are ridiculously expensive! I can't see myself spending 150 to 250 dollars a session on myself. I definitely cannot do that nor will my husband be on board with doing that.
I know it is so hard for therapists to make money in private practices due to the little reimbursement they receive from insurance companies which really sucks because the patient suffers too. Just wondering what others do especially since I read that many are doing eMDR or DBT therapies.
Thanks for reading.
L

 

[Deleted member 34328]

Hi @Lotis
I hear you. The cost is frightening... in Canada too! I can't really answer your question as I have a wonderful therapist in private practice and a husband who is willing to pay out of pocket. (not that we have the money to spare) I know my T is struggling to make ends meet and is considering shutting down his office space to save on rent - look for other options.
I can imagine how hard it must have been for you to lose a trusted T after that many years. Therapy is so important as is a safe person and place.

Can't encourage you enough to keep looking.

 

[Justmehere]

My health insurance only covers therapists who have all rejected me. I see a therapist who doesn't take any insurance but has changed my life. I spend about $400 per month on therapy. It is terrible, but I try to remember it's an investment in my future.

 

[FauxLiz]

I am fortunate that my T was willing to work with me when my employer changed insurance companies. He went through the process of becoming a provider in the new network so that we could stay working together. If that hadn't happened I don't know what I would have done as he charges $200 a session and my Pdoc which I see monthly for meds another $250 so if insurance didn't cover them I would be spending over $1000 a month on therapy and med appointments.

 

[Lotis]

He went through the process of becoming a provider in the new network so that we could stay working together.

That is really awesome of your therapist to have done that!

 

[FauxLiz]

Lotis it was awesome of him. I am fortunate to work with him but I still worry about whether I can trust him, I question often whether he just did it for the money as he was still building his practice from a solo to a group practice. Does he just see dollar signs when he sees me because he sees me twice a week and my insurance reimburses his full fee

 

[HappyJock]

The cost of therapy can definitely be frightening. Fortunately, I have insurance -- but when I checked my portal on how much was being spent, it was roughly $400 a week on therapy.

 

[Crow]

I pay out of pocket. T gives me a discount because I've been with her so long but 60 minutes is $200. I usually spend $1,000 a month (4 90 minute sessions). When I'm not stable, that can double. No travel, few concerts, college diet but we'll worth it.

 

[Friday]

If you have insurance, but a particular provider doesn't "take" them :

Something that a lot of people aren't familiar with is that billing insurance is actually a courtesy. Technically/legally it's the patients responsibility to bill their own insurance and be reimbursed for their expense.

What most big hospitals/clinics/etc. do by billing insurance for their patients is an actuary / aka bet. They provide the service, then bill insurance, then get paid. They bet that they'll lose less money by providing service before being paid that insurance companies deny payment, than if they didn't provide the service and had people bill their own insurance companies. They always take a loss by providing services on spec ((and this is also why 5-6 figure treatments usually require pre-approval by insurance)). But it gives you an idea of how much of a loss by how big their billing department is. 2 people at 60k per year, means 120k lost in salaries? Far less than the loss they'd experience if they didn't have 2 people billing insurance.

Individuals, on the other hand, often can't afford to place bets on their income, nor wait the 3-6mo for insurance companies to get around to paying, nor pay out 100k a year in salary + benefits to have a billing person, nor have the extra 40 hours or more a week that a full practice needs in order to bill insurance. To be an approved provider is even more expensive/ another expense many individuals simply cannot afford to cover (often tens of thousands per year -per insurance company- that they have to pay out of pocket to be considered "in-network").

So when a provider doesn't "take" your insurance? That doesn't actually mean your insurance won't pay for your treatment, or part of your treatment. It means that provider isn't going to bill them for you :sneaky: You can still do the legwork yourself.

- Call insurance company & get your psych & out-patient benefits (including requirements, like licensure, & deductibles) for in & out of network providers, along with appropriate billing paperwork & codes sent to you. Explain that you'll need to be billing them as a provider doesn't provide billing as a courtesy and they usually send you a whole packet, along with very detailed instructions and a whole lot of extra forms, instead of expecting you to photocopy a single form.
- At each appointment have your provider signature the billing code, and give receipt of payment.
- Bill your insurance company. ((Most have minimums, like 6-12 sessions need to be billed at once, some allow single sessions to be updated online. Depends on the insurance company)).
- Wait an avg of 3-6mo for reimbursement check or direct deposit.

^^^
Can be very overwhelming at first. It becomes very easy. Provider signs. You pay them. Send copies to insurance company. Insurance company reimburses you.

 

[Friday]

All that said? I don't have insurance that would pay for counseling or psych services of any kind (not even under outpatient medical, which is a loophole a lot of clinics use to be paid by psych miserly insurance companies), so I would be out of pocket.

My area that $120 per session x3 per week (minimum any trauma therapist is willing to deal with me at) = 120 x 3 x 5 = 1,845 per month. I don't have that.

((I'm showing my math because a head injury f*cks with my ability to use numbers. Double check my work.))

 

[StarChild]

Hi @FridayJones... ...I get 1800.-- when doing the multiplication as written above... May I ask: Why do you multiplicate with 5 not 4 (as I assume it stands for the weeks!) - Did you mean 120/session x 3sessions/week x 4 week = 1'440.--)? Please correct me, if I'm wrong.

 

[EveHarrington]

If you find a therapist you like, see if they will give you a discount.

Do you have out of network benefits?