Why is therapy so expensive ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like we paid $175 and that was 5-6 years ago? Has it honestly up that much?

+1. This was for an excellent therapist.

There are brand-name therapists that are THE therapists for the wealthy set. They charge an arm and a leg. We tried two, and felt that the increased charge was really for the peace-of-mind of knowing you were going to the person everyone thought was the best.

[Anonymous]

No therapist is worth $300. Sorry that’s crazy. We pay $125/hr. We did pay $175/hr before and she was terrible. Just talk talk talk. No action. Look on Psychology Today. Many have discounted prices or prorates. I recommend therapists under the age of 30.

[Anonymous]

The best therapist we saw was at Children’s and it cost $7 (that was our share after insurance payment). Yes, we were fortunate to get into Children’s, and I wish there were more places that took all insurance (or any at all).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one complains when doctors charge the same price for 15 minutes of their time.

Most of the specialists charging $250 have masters degrees. And no pretend "education" masters degrees, legit masters degrees from real schools.

People complain because they think women should do this work for charity wages.

100%

The insurance companies are where this should be managed. If they would pay any benefits towards mental health reimbursement it would make such a difference in being able to afford therapy. Docs aren’t trying to price folks out.

I was going to say this too. The question should be why reimbursement is so low.

Reimbursement is so low because every single person in the US would like to be in therapy and insurance companies couldn't afford that without tripling premiums

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cost going from $250 a session to $300 a session in dc. I need to switch therapists for my teen daughter. Is Virginia cheaper? Is this normal cost for a teen?

We're in PG County and we pay $150/session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why I use my health insurance for therapy. I definitely can't afford $250 a week out of pocket for therapy. It took trying several different people, but I was able to find someone who was helpful on my plan.

We use a therapist who is $250/session. He is out of network, but we do seek (and receive!) partial reimbursement from our insurance after submitting claims once a month. It's a pain to do, but it allows us to use a therapist who is very experienced in situations like ours.

[Anonymous]

We have Kaiser and pay a $20 co-pay an hour. If we go out of network, we submit for reimbursement. After reimbursement, I pay about $70 on my own per hour. I guess we are really lucky. Spending $1200 a month for 4 hours of therapy would be extremely stressful.

The irony is most middle and lower income people need mental health care and can’t afford it. Only the wealthy and privilege get care in the USA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one complains when doctors charge the same price for 15 minutes of their time.

Most of the specialists charging $250 have masters degrees. And no pretend "education" masters degrees, legit masters degrees from real schools.

People complain because they think women should do this work for charity wages.

100%

The insurance companies are where this should be managed. If they would pay any benefits towards mental health reimbursement it would make such a difference in being able to afford therapy. Docs aren’t trying to price folks out.

I was going to say this too. The question should be why reimbursement is so low.

Reimbursement is so low because every single person in the US would like to be in therapy and insurance companies couldn't afford that without tripling premiums

That is not true! It’s absolutely possible to find adult therapists who take insurance and have reasonable co-pays. I still do not see one regularly, though I did benefit during a year following a traumatic event.

However it is nearly impossible to find a child therapist who takes insurance (unless you can work with a hospital based practice, which has its own downsides including location IME), so you are looking at paying $200 or more and getting back maybe $40 for allowable coverage. And that is with my *good* insurance. That’s not ok. Meanwhile doctors have figured out how to work the system for cosmetic GLP-1 and nose jobs. It’s not ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have Kaiser and pay a $20 co-pay an hour. If we go out of network, we submit for reimbursement. After reimbursement, I pay about $70 on my own per hour. I guess we are really lucky. Spending $1200 a month for 4 hours of therapy would be extremely stressful.

The irony is most middle and lower income people need mental health care and can’t afford it. Only the wealthy and privilege get care in the USA

We have Kaiser and am curious what out of network options only cost $70? I've been struggling finding an appt in network.

[Anonymous]

The only pediatric therapist/counselor we can find through Kaiser is online. Their in person offerings were entirely unavailable on a regular basis, and while we briefly had a in person therapist through them she kept cancelling a few days ahead then was booked out 8 weeks plus. It was not helpful at all. She was not a good fit either and choices were not plentiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have Kaiser and pay a $20 co-pay an hour. If we go out of network, we submit for reimbursement. After reimbursement, I pay about $70 on my own per hour. I guess we are really lucky. Spending $1200 a month for 4 hours of therapy would be extremely stressful.

The irony is most middle and lower income people need mental health care and can’t afford it. Only the wealthy and privilege get care in the USA

We have Kaiser and am curious what out of network options only cost $70? I've been struggling finding an appt in network.

I recommend looking at multiple places. They have really amped up therapists, at least in MD. They also have after school teen IOP programs T-Th for 3 hours. $20 co pay.

As far as getting reimbursement. If you can show your child needs weekly therapy thru your pediatrician, psychiatrist, or hospitalization, or an event at school - and Kaiser can not offer that consistency, they will reimburse you partially if you agree and submit receipts on therapy. It takes about 1 month. The mental healthcare hotline knows the most.

They also have IOP and PHP options on co-pays too as long as your psychiatrist refers to the ones Kaiser approves. We have utilized everything and have saved a lot of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one complains when doctors charge the same price for 15 minutes of their time.

Most of the specialists charging $250 have masters degrees. And no pretend "education" masters degrees, legit masters degrees from real schools.

People complain because they think women should do this work for charity wages.

100%

The insurance companies are where this should be managed. If they would pay any benefits towards mental health reimbursement it would make such a difference in being able to afford therapy. Docs aren’t trying to price folks out.

I was going to say this too. The question should be why reimbursement is so low.

Reimbursement is so low because every single person in the US would like to be in therapy and insurance companies couldn't afford that without tripling premiums

NP - of course they could do the bolded without raising premiums: they could pay their senior leaders reasonable salaries, not millions of dollars per year. IMO no healthcare company should value profit more than providing quality care. It's unconscionable. They get away with this crap because mental illness is still stigmatized. Don't get me started on the lack of access to quality care for addiction (which is way behind that for other mental illnesses).

[Anonymous]

For our daughter we used someone online who took our insurance. The issues were pretty typical, and I think most people with training who connected with her would be fine. Our son has special needs, and we felt needed someone more specialized. We paid I'm thinking $235 an hour a few years ago. I would not pay $300.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one complains when doctors charge the same price for 15 minutes of their time.

Most of the specialists charging $250 have masters degrees. And no pretend "education" masters degrees, legit masters degrees from real schools.

People complain because they think women should do this work for charity wages.

I'm a special ed teacher with a M.Ed who uses what I learned in grad school daily. Are you saying my degree isn't legit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:say they see 7 patients a day

$250x 7 =$1,750.00 x 4 =$7,000.00 x 52 =$364,000.00

And pay office expenses. It's not that much.

This would be a very heavy load and not done 5 days a week.

So they make less. That's why they charge $250/hour. It's a middle class living. It's a good living, but they aren't making a ton.

That’s in no way middle class.

+1

My psychiatrist in VA charges $150 an hour.