3 Reasons Your Therapist Might Not Take Insurance

Transcript of the video:
So someone asked this question, why don't you take insurance? Now it's not just me, baby. It's a bunch of therapists. A lot of us do not take insurance, and there are multiple, multiple, multiple reasons why, but I'm gonna go ahead and give you the top three.

1: Insurance companies basically operate on “I can pay you whenever the hell I feel like it”

I don’t know about you but if you did the work you want to be paid when you’re supposed to be to be paid. Right? Right!?

They can pay you up to 90 days after the fact, and they do exercise that!

2: This is a job with which you never get a raise.

Which means that if an insurance company reimburses (meaning they pay me $100 per therapy session), just because I am more skilled or earn more certifications does not mean I’m going to get a raise, right? Furthermore, I know the work I’m doing is worth more, and they don’t pay me that.

You can ask for it! You can beg for it! You can send a letter for it! They still get the right to tell you no and then you just gotta accept what they give you.

3: They require me to prove medical necessity.

Which means that you have to be diagnosable. There are some things that don’t count as a reason for you to need therapy and they simply won’t reimburse for it.

Bonus: They can take your money back!

I think they have like maybe a year or so where they can (they call it clawback) where they will audit your files and if you say…. didn’t put the right time of ending OR they think that the note does not prove the medical necessity that you have outlined, they can take the money back! I have seen therapy companies close because one of the insurance companies was like, “Hey, we want $30,000 that we gave you back.” After you’ve already paid payroll after you’ve already used that money to pay for your building, after you spent the money on all the things to maintain your business. They just take it back.

Personal Testimony:

So those are four reasons. Well, three and a bonus, as to why I no longer accept insurance. I did, and I stopped accepting insurance pretty early in the year. Um, I think we were, like, done by like, March (2024), and it's December, and I've still received late checks from the insurance company for clients that have already been seen, and when they deny a claim, I still I never went and recouped the money from the client. So if they say that they're not going to pay, I just didn't get paid. I have more consistent paychecks now than when I took them. I hope that answers your question as to why I and many other therapists do not accept insurance.

If there are some therapists out here in these streets. Go ahead and put your reasoning for not taking insurance down below. I think that this needs to be one of those conversations that is not a secret and that we don't keep indoors. I think that people want to know, and I think that people need to know so at the very least they have an understanding of what we're doing and why. But go ahead and hit me in the comments.

Remember discourse, not disrespect. Keep it cute in the comments.

The Docs Recommendations…aka TL;DR

I and many therapists understand if you need to see a therapist who takes insurance directly, but remember this, you can still use your insurance benefits even if the therapist doesn’t take insurance. Ask for a superbill and submit that to your insurance company for reimbursement.

I know it sucks when you want to use insurance, but try to remember the issue is usually with the insurance system, not the therapist themselves.