I thought this blurb, found here, was interesting and reflected what I have experienced with my family's own mental health care providers:
http://www.hrobbinsphd.com/psychothe...html#insurance

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Many successful, established psychologists do not join insurance panels for three reasons. First, there is a great deal of paperwork to submit for in-network benefits, making it an impractical use of the clinician's time. Second, the in-network filing process usually requires a significant breach of client confidentiality. To meet the requirements for in-network reimbursement, the psychologist must submit an official client diagnosis and an ongoing progress report, treatment plan, etc. Such information requires that the therapist divulge a good deal of personal information about the client, which then becomes part of his or her permanent medical record (potentially driving up client insurance rates). Third, insurance panel fee schedules are well below national averages, and are therefore not ideal for established psychologists. Because of these considerations, the vast majority of mental health professionals who choose to join insurance panels and become in-network providers are either just beginning their clinical practice, or find it difficult to sustain their target client load.

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I am finding that to be true. My former counselor was an "in network preferred provider." I can't say she was great. She usually had openings readily available each week. I think she did have trouble sustaining her client load. There was a lot of paperwork she had to do for each client. It was great for me, because my insurance reimbursed me for 90% of her fee. Her fee was determined by the insurance and was below the rate of my current therapist, who is not network.

My current therapist is highly sought after and fantastic. He is the guy to go to for my particular presenting problem. Back when I first started with him, I didn't realize how lucky I was to get onto his client roster. He is not part of any insurance networks, and in fact is not reimbursable even as an "out of network provider", as some people are. I tried with 2 different insurance companies to get reimbursement for him as an out of network provider, but both companies did not like his particular licensure. He does no insurance paperwork at all, but reserves his time for working with clients.

My daughter's new therapist is very similar. She is part of no networks and leaves it up to you to try to get out of network reimbursement for her services. Luckily, her fee is lower than my T and she has a licensure that the insurance companies like, so I should be able to get reimbursed for her at 60%. I'm still trying to decide if I want to seek reimbursement, though, as I'm weighing the negatives of having a mental health diagnosis associated with my daughter's medical record.

Does anyone think there are significant negatives to having a mental health diagnosis attached to a minor's record? Would this limit her opportunities in school and future jobs in some way? I'm not sure what the downside is.