An extremely important part of finding a therapist is deciding whether you want to use your health insurance or not. Nowadays, there are many therapists who choose to not take insurance, including Better Together Mental Health. So let’s talk about the reasons why a therapist would choose to take insurance or not and what that means for you.
Insurance is a great way to be more accessible as a therapist. Insurance will often cover therapy for individuals, if they have a mental health diagnosis. However, insurance is less likely to pay for family therapy and almost never pays for couples therapy. So it may be harder to find a therapist who will take insurance for all types of therapy.
Taking insurance also comes with some other downsides, both for you, the client, and the therapist. Insurance requires a mental health diagnosis, which not every person wants or needs, and can control the length and type of care of that they will cover. In addition, insurance can and will require your therapist to share their notes, treatment plans, and other documentation whenever the insurance company demands. For people who would rather their mental health information remain more private or for anyone who does not want a mental health diagnosis, looking for a therapist who doesn’t take insurance may be the better choice.
Pay is also a factor in why many therapists are choosing not to take insurance. In many states, insurance does not pay well (the amount varies drastically by state and is difficult to quantify because insurance contracts do not allow therapists to share how much they make). Many therapists can only see 20-25 people per week, which means that insurance wouldn’t pay enough for them to make a living. There is also an increase in the amount of administrative time that it takes to work with insurance. Insurance companies are also allowed to do clawbacks, which happens when the insurance company makes a mistake or decides that they should not have covered previously paid sessions, and take back the money that they have paid the therapist. They can make the therapist pay back thousands of dollars with no recourse. All of these tend to affect whether a therapist chooses to take insurance or remain private pay.
So which should you pick? Insurance or no insurance? Like with my last blog, I’m going to say take the route that better fits your life. There is nothing wrong with using insurance or for going the private pay route. My hope with this series of blogs is that you gain a greater understanding of why therapy works the way that it does and that you can make informed decisions as you start your therapeutic journey.
