There has been a lot of talk about how hard it is for so many of us and our families to afford the therapy we so badly need.

I’d like to share two ideas with you – one that could help right away to make therapy more affordable, and one that’s more of a long-term dream.

Many of us find therapists through a referral source – maybe a referral agency, a rav, or an askan. This is wonderful because it helps make sure the therapist is right for what we need help with. But here’s something important to know – many referral sources won’t automatically tell you about therapists who take insurance.

When speaking with any referral source, be sure to ask these two critical questions:

Question #1: “Do you know any good therapists who take insurance who could help with this?”

They often do know qualified therapists in clinics who take insurance, but won’t mention them unless you specifically ask. This simple question can save you thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars.

Question #2: “If only a private-pay therapist will work for me, can you refer me to a service that helps with single case agreements?”

These services can help prove to your insurance company that there aren’t suitable in-network therapists, which can get the insurance company to pay most of a private therapist’s bill. Just asking these two questions and making a phone call could save you so much money.

A few more things that might help:

• Many clinics that take insurance now have excellent, well-trained therapists who can really help you. This has gotten much better in recent years.
• If you’re worried about privacy at a clinic, know that most clinics are set up to give you complete privacy. And if you’re still concerned, telehealth might be a good option.
• If you do need to see a private-pay therapist and have out-of-network benefits, you can get money back by submitting a “superbill.” You can easily do this yourself, but if you want someone to do this for you, services like Thrizer, Reimbursify, and Mentaya can help with this. They can help verify your benefits and even front the money for a fee.
• If you can’t afford a therapist’s fees, there’s nothing wrong with simply telling them and asking if they have a sliding scale. They might say no, but it’s worth asking. With the economy weak, many therapists have open slots and would rather help someone at a lower rate than have a empty slot.
• Remember that a therapist who charges a lot isn’t necessarily better qualified to help you. Higher rates often just mean they’re better at marketing themselves. Many more reasonably priced therapists can help you just as much. Some therapists mainly focus on helping people while supporting their families, while others try to make as much money as possible – which isn’t wrong, but we need to realize the difference.

We have several excellent referral agencies in our community, and I want to say that we owe them so much Hakaras Hatov for the amazing work they do. They need and deserve all the support – financial and otherwise – that we can give them.

That said, I believe we need a new kind of referral agency that focuses specifically on therapists who take insurance. Here’s why our current agencies might have a harder time with this:

• Insurance therapists are often newer, and referral services might not know about them yet
• These therapists have less financial reason to reach out to referral agencies
• They don’t have as long a track record, making it harder to judge how good they are
• It’s harder to gather feedback since they’re newer
• They often leave clinics after a few years, which means the agency has to start over again
• Referral people are human and naturally mention the names that first come to mind
• Clinic directors can get upset when agencies refer to specific therapists in their clinic

A referral agency just for insurance therapists could overcome these challenges by focusing all their efforts on finding these therapists and checking how well they help their clients, and building relationships with clinic directors to collaborate together.

By having a separate organization for this, the therapists wouldn’t stop taking insurance once they get busy with referrals (because then the organization would stop referring to them). This bring down private-pay rates by reducing demand, and thereby making it more affordable for those who truly need that expertise.

Maybe someday this agency could also refer to private-pay therapists who charge reasonable rates, as well as Rabbonim and Rebbetzins who are available to talk for a fee or for free, mentors, support groups, 12 step groups, and group therapy.

They could even help insurance therapists earn more by finding legal ways to take both insurance clients and some private-pay higher rate clients.

These are dreams for the future, but for now, just asking those two questions I mentioned above – about qualified insurance therapists and single case agreements – can save you thousands and save our community millions.

With a bracha and tefilla that everyone be able to get the help they need,

Daniel Steinberg

The views expressed in this letter are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of YWN. Have an opinion you would like to share? Send it to us for review.