Natalie’s Story
Natalie is a therapist with a growing practice based in Los Angeles. She finds dealing with clients’ insurance questions gets in the way of providing treatment. Natalie discovered Better and sees it as a powerful tool to solve this problem.
Better is a brilliant idea. Nine times out of ten, new clients come to me and our first conversation is not about their reason for seeking therapy but answering insurance questions. They don’t understand their coverage and want me to explain it. It always ends up being a fraught conversation. People who are seeking therapy have already struggled to take the step to contact me (or any therapist), and then there’s this other hurdle to get over–
The first question they ask is:
“Do you take insurance?”
So, I reply:
“No, I’m not contracted with an insurance panel; however, your own insurance might cover some part of the cost of the session but you have to call them and find out what can be reimbursed.”
This lack of insurance knowledge is a barrier to seeking care. I can only explain it in a vague way because every plan is different and it puts me in the impossible position of trying to build a relationship with a new client, not by discussing their reasons for seeking therapy but acting as an insurance counselor, and all I can really do is put the onus on them, sending them away to work it out. There’s a lot of anxiety in that exchange and I have definitely lost clients.
I do what I can to smooth the process. I bought software to provide superbills (SimplePractice.com) to make it easier for my clients to get reimbursed. The program provides a template so I can put in the correct codes but it takes time and can be very frustrating. One client had a claim refused because the coding needed to be slightly adjusted, so most of the time I feel I’m not doing my best but blindly hoping that it will work. I’m not even sure how many of my clients have tried to get reimbursed but most don’t bother. I had one client who was running into financial difficulties. He submitted a claim but never heard back from his insurance company, so he had to quit therapy. Maybe, if Better had been available, I could’ve been able to keep seeing him.
Of course, I’d like to be on an insurance panel because it would give my clients easier access to the treatment they need, but given the nature of the insurance company process, there’s no way. I spoke to a therapist who managed to get on a panel. She wrote letters, (handwritten with pen and paper!), lots of them, selling herself, explaining why X insurance company would want her. After months someone picked up one of those letters and she was accepted. I wouldn’t even begin to pursue that. And would it be worth it? It’s hard to get on panels, but I’ve heard it’s just as hard to get paid. Insurance companies pay way under the fees of a cash practice. Even if I managed to get on an insurance panel, I couldn’t afford to lose up to half my rate.
So, that’s why I think Better will work for my clients. Instead of sending them off “to work it out,” I can tell them to try the app.
“In fact, I can see it from both sides. I have my own therapy bills so I’m trying it for myself too.”
Especially for therapists like me, just starting up, it helps bypass that difficult conversation about money and insurance, this kind of tool is a really powerful thing.
You can find out more about Natalie on her website: http://nataliefriedmantherapy.com/
