Changes in health care
Maybe you have heard and maybe you will hear soon but there are very big changes in health care coverages coming up. In an effort to bring healthcare to more people, insurance companies are changing how they do business. For many people this is excellent news.
I am no insurance expert but there are a few things that I have read in my personal contracts that give me pause. First of all, insurance companies are actively reducing reimbursements on anything that is not “medically necessary”. This is not determined by the patient but by doctors.
In counseling this means that if your problem isn’t deemed medically necessary you will have very reduced access to care. this means that psychotherapy to improve outcomes will be greatly reduced. It is unclear how that will happen.
Providers will be graded on performance in how well people are getting and how fast. Reimbursement rates will be calculated differently for those therapists that have lower grades. I don’t have a problem with this necessarily because I am about best practices but there are some flaws in this system.
Mental health providers are mandated under specific ethics codes not to share information about clients. We are also not allowed to request that clients review us . Even those that like our work and have improved because of it. Providers can not say anything, nada.
This means that clients that have not felt that they got help or worse didn’t like the therapist for whatever reason and give a poor health grade to the therapist can cause the reimbursement rate to be reduced. Clients that like their therapist can’t even be told they have the right to vote.
The problem is that you cant make people change. and therapy is all about challenging poor thought processes. That is difficult for most people.
lower insurance rates of reimbursement rate cause therapists to drop off networks. It costs a lot to be a therapist. If we can’t meet expenses we leave the profession. Less therapists. There is already a shortage in providers of all kinds. It takes a lot of searching to find support these days due to a lack of therapists. finding one you can work with on sensitive subjects adds another layer of struggle to an already difficult situation.
Don’t worry. Therapists are working together to find solutions to this problem.
We are gathering together to approach congress within our state and in larger legislative bodies to overcome this problem.
Another solution we have identified is to work with non clinical level issues through coaching programs which are different than therapy. The level of issues is quite different and how we approach the problems is not therapeutic level of care.
We don’t diagnose, report to doctors, go to court or use deep therapeutic work in coaching.
The truth is that we are so well trained we make excellent coaches. We have masters level educations and higher which regular coaches rarely have.
Mental health care is important to maintain.
Using mental health care for times when things have interrupted your life to the point where you are no longer able to function in society is actually the best choice. Sitting in a room talking about things you can use a coach for isn’t the best use of insurance dollars.
If you currently see a counselor or mental health professional of any kind, I encourage you to go to health grades and make a review of them if you feel like they have helped you. They can’t ask you but what a shame if you needed them later and they were no longer there.
If you are in need of a therapist for help to get back to living a functional life give me a call.
If things are just feeling like you want to talk to someone about changes you can make on a simple level and want educated supports. Let’s do some coaching.
Im here to answer questions and help in anyway I can as we go through these changes.
Many blessings.
Karen Van Acker LPC
counseling in Salem Oregon
Coaching available anywhere in the world.
Namaste
