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Originally Posted by StressedMess
Around here every psychiatrist and therapist in private practice is self-pay, do not accept insurance, etc. We are stuck with the county mental health clinic, where staff are overworked and underpaid, which leads to long waits between appointments and to quick turnover. My youngest has had 4 counselors in the past 12 months, for example. They bill my insurance $185 per hour. I'm not responsible for the full amount, but that makes me shy away from looking for private practitioners, because there's absolutely no way I can afford that.
Good luck Kit!
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I'm sorry you have to deal with that, especially with your youngest.
It's worth checking into whether private, self-pay practitioners might have a sliding scale. My T does, for example, and I recall when I was looking for a potential new T in the past that many had it listed on their Psychology Today profile. Many T's build that into their pricing, assuming that they'll have a certain number of sliding scale clients (I asked Dr. T about it once).
Also, know that those therapists definitely are NOT getting that full $185 from the insurance company--probably more like $50, if that. (It should say on your explanation of benefits from the insurance company.) So T's do better financially as self-pay, even if they have a considerable number of sliding scale clients.
And you should see if your insurance offers any out-of-network benefits, as I get half reimbursed, even though my T is out of network (previous plan reimbursed 60%).