Every city is so different...

How about calling the local NAMI and asking them about the insurance situation? With a bit of legwork, you could scope out the mental health provider situation before making the decision to move. San Francisco sounds wonderful.

How convenient for insurance companies to reimburse so low and require extra paperwork so that less and less providers want to deal with them. I think it borders on criminal activity. Insurance companies do those things as it is known to reduce their costs as providers drop them and people with mental health conditions give up.

It also saddens me that many of the providers who don't take insurance don't offer sliding scales.