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INSURANCE REIMBURSEMENT and
CONFIDENTIALITY |
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ATTENTION!
This is not to alarm you, but to make sure you are fully
informed in the event you choose to use your insurance. In
the past few years, there has been an escalation in requests
for "treatment plans" by many insurance companies which they
use to determine "medical necessity" for treatment or
counseling. If medical necessity is not determined,
reimbursement may be denied. The intent is cost containment
by the insurers. Quality and attention to personal needs may
get overlooked in the interest of saving costs.
A crucial aspect of psychotherapy, however, is the
absolute assurance of
full and guaranteed confidentiality.
"Treatment plans", as required by insurance and managed care
companies, are detailed documents regarding your clinical
history and that of your family. These specifics always
include symptoms, diagnoses and the content of your
counseling sessions. Once a treatment plan is mailed or
faxed, it can become part of a paper trail on you and your
family that is totally beyond the control of you or your
counselor. This is clearly an
intrusion into the confidential nature of psychotherapy.
Furthermore, this information can be stored in data banks
accessible to other insurers such as life and disability
insurance companies (visit
www.mib.com to learn
more about one of these depositories of medical
information).
Not all insurers require treatment plans and will reimburse
you on the basis of the information I regularly provide on
your receipts. Of course, these receipts do show a diagnosis
and the fact that you have been in therapy. In the event
your insurer also wants a treatment plan, I will show you
what I have written before it is sent
to them.
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No
information about you will be revealed to any one
unless you give me written permission to release that
information! |
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