Why Take Insurance? (According to Therapists in Private Practice)
“woman, thinking” ©2011 Robert Couse-Baker CC BY-SA 2.0
To take insurance or to not take insurance. That is the question…
…that has been asked to death.
Many blogs and therapist help sites have covered this question, and for a good reason: the decision will have a major impact on your practice.
It’s not just about the money. Considerations related to ethics, privacy, the current insurance environment, personal choice and more all play a factor. It’s a complex question, and every provider will have a different answer.
This question comes up a lot at conferences BreezyNotes attends and discussions in which we participate. We realized we had a valuable, knowledgeable resource in our customers and other connections, so we decided to ask them.
In this first of two articles we cover why providers decide to take insurance. We hope their insights will help you.
Why Take Insurance
1. Insurance helps bring in clients.
The process of credentialing and billing insurance can be painful. But, doing so can bring in many times more clients than is possible on your own, especially if you are new to the industry or the area you serve.
Here’s how insurance companies can help you bring in a high volume of clients:
- When a customer looks at their insurance company’s list of clinicians who are in-network, your name is there. They’re advertising you.
- There are many people who could never afford your services without insurance who now can.
This held true for Dr. Amanda Mulfinger of Cabot Psychological Services, “Insurance companies were initially my largest referral source, and are still hugely significant to my practice.”
Heather Verjovsky of CedarHill Therapy agrees, saying insurance allows her group practice to, “offer services to a broader demographic.”
But even if you’re a well-established clinician, insurance can be very helpful in bringing in clients.
Dr. Kirsten Schoenleber is a psychologist who made the leap from working at a hospital to running her own private practice: “Many of my clients moved with me and would not have been able to do so if I hadn’t taken insurance.”
Of course, we recognize that it is possible to thrive in your independent practice without relying on insurance. But that is much easier in urban and suburban areas where many potential clients are willing to pay the full cash fee. But, “In rural areas or highly impoverished areas one of the only ways to earn income is to accept insurance payments,” says Danielle Norby of A Better Connection, Inc.
So, the location you choose and the demographics in the area can also affect whether or not your practice needs to take insurance to survive.
But, of course, business is not the only aspect of this question that should be considered. There are also ethical and moral aspects to consider.
2. Insurance helps clients who need therapy, but can’t afford the full fee.
There are many people who simply cannot afford to pay for therapy out of pocket. And for therapists who want to make their services affordable for all potential clients, insurance is a good option.
“This was a dilemma for me and one that I gave serious consideration to,” says Kenneth Hanna Jr. of LION Community Enrichment Programs, Inc. about his choice to take insurance. But he wants, “to make effective change in the lives of those who need it most to become productive citizens.” And many of those who need that change just can’t afford the therapy that will help them.
This can be especially helpful to certain populations who are more likely to need help paying for therapy.
“We do a large amount of work with new moms and dads, who likely met their deductible through the recent birth of their child,” says Lauren Robbins of WildTree Psychotherapy. “And to incur further healthcare costs is just not financially feasible with a new baby at home.”
However, even if you’re not seeing such a specialized population, it’s still important to consider the wider ramifications of your decision.
“I think everybody has the right to have insurance help cover their mental health needs,” says Amanda Mulfinger, “and the system only works if providers are willing to accept negotiated rates.”
Though she did add, “It’d be nice if we had more say in what those rates are, but… c’est la vie.”
Those are the most important reasons many of our customers decided to accept insurance at their private practices.
But many of our customers also decided to go the private pay route. And many of them still strive to make their practices affordable for all. In two weeks, we’ll dive into the reasons you shouldn’t take insurance and the options you have as a private pay clinician.
Our Sources
We appreciate the time our customers took to offer their informed opinions on this debate. We hope you’ll take a moment to find out a little bit about them:
- Kenneth Hanna Jr., MSW, MBA, LICSW
Founder & Executive Director, LION Community Enrichment Programs, Inc.
Multi-provider community mental health services
Learn more about Lion Youth on its website and Facebook - Amanda Mulfinger, Ph.D.,LP
President & Owner, Cabot Psychological Services
Six-provider psychotherapy practice
Learn about Cabot on its website, Facebook, and Amanda’s Twitter - Danielle Norby, MSW, LICSW, RPT-S, CAS
Owner, A Better Connection Inc.
Ten-provider mental health clinic
Learn about ABC Inc on its website, and Facebook
*Danielle is not a customer of BreezyNotes EHR, but brought a unique perspective we felt was important to the conversation - Lauren Robbins, MS, LPCC, LADC
Clinical Director, WildTree Psychotherapy
Nine-provider psychotherapy practice
Learn more about Wild Tree on its website, Facebook, and Twitter - Kirsten Schoenleber, Ph.D., LP
Solo psychotherapy practice
Learn about Kirsten on her website - Heather Verjovsky, MA, LAMFT
Co-Owner, Cedar Hill Therapy
Six-provider psychotherapy practice
Learn about Cedar Hill on its website and Facebook