Another problem associated with accessing treatment for mental and emotional issues is that insurance programs, particularly those provided by employers, often have annual limits that may prevent an individual from getting enough sessions with a therapist. Many plans only fund 5 to 10 sessions in a year and in a number of cases, this is simply inadequate to enable individuals to make progress.

Actually because of the mental health parity act, there can be no limits on sessions if there are no limits on medical appts. However, the sessions have to be “medically” necessary.

I have pretty good insurance. Honestly, the biggest problem I’ve had is finding a skilled therapist or psychiatrist who an expertise in Anxiety or at least knows CBT well that takes my insurance. Most seem to take no insurance or only one or two. Granted my insurance has lists of covered therapists on their website but very little information (just where they are located), so I basically would have to call people up randomly and hope one of them is an ok fit.

Anyway, I chose to continue with my current therapist although I have to pay out of pocket just because by the time I realized she wasn’t covered we’d already been working together for a few months and I don’t want to have to start all over again. Or end up with another therapist who doesn’t know what they are doing.

So anyway, the situation is precarious for those with insurance as well. My only good suggestion is for the government to pay therapists to take insurance, because the reason most good ones don’t is because they don’t get reimbursed enough. Apparently they do that in Australia.

meant to say a quarter of what I make (sorry)

Mental Health Care becomes very costly with insurance. I have a daughter and wife with OCD. Therapy is a $30 co-pay weekly. Sertaline is a $20 co-pay per month per patient. I have another daughter that needs medicine for her asthma ( physical ailment but demonstrates another copay). Although all of this is covered under Blue Cross, the co-pays drain our budget. I make enough money that I do not qualify for assistance. I stopped my therapy and medication for depression because of the costs involved. These are the choices that people are forced to make based on their family’s needs for mental health support. It is difficult enough to admit that you need help living your life, but to put yourself in financial distress to receive help may deter some to not seek proper treatment.

@Annie and others: Thanks for telling us about the Federally Qualified Health Centers; I hadn’t heard about those; I’ll have to look them up. It’s clear that many are justifiably upset about a mental health care delivery system that’s in bad need of an overhaul.

Tricia-
$60 is a steal! I pay $150 an hour for my therapist (plus free 10 minute phone consultations between appts.) It sucks but since the place a go is a specialized anxiety clinic, therapy is much more productive and efficient than with the 3 cheaper therapists I fumbled around with before that. Fortunately I can pay for it. I could have gotten an insurance plan that would cover about 2/3 of the cost of the therapy but that would have been an extra few thousand a year and financially, it didn’t seem like it would be better. Although they will file the paperwork with your insurance company.

I want to get made at my therapist for not taking any insurance. I do think that’s awfully greedy. But on the other hand, these people have student loans from all their years of higher ed and their families to support Insurance companies only pay out like $90-100 an hour for therapy Or less. And they add restrictions like it has to be in the office, which may not be the best for the client. That’s why I think the government should step in and offer subsidies or require therapists to see at least a few clients with insurance or some other scheme like that. Or require pay out to be higher without gouging consumers.

For the record, the clinic does have interns people can see for $70 an hour and I think they do sliding scale and payment plans in cases where a client falls on hard times. And their focus is on short-term therapy and getting clients out the door in as few sessions as needed (but with occasional follow-up appts). And they don’t charge extra for “case management type stuff.”

Thanks for sharing very good information that will be really so helpful.