Insurance and the Mental Health Industry
Starting your own private practice can be stressful… not only do you have to see patients, retain staff, but also go through the necessary paperwork to continue practicing. Arguably, one of the most time-consuming parts of the administrative side is dealing with insurance companies.
Because of the hassle associated with dealing with insurance companies, many providers have opted to not accept insurance. Unfortunately, this leads to a lack of affordable care in the market. Financial barriers continue to hinder patient’s timely access to care with the National Comorbidity Study determining 47% of individuals with a mood, substance, or anxiety disorder sought help for their mental illness but could not afford these services without insurance coverage.
Telmedicine has reduced the geographic constraints of traditional healthcare practices but the expanded market continues to prove inaccessible because of the high costs of seeing providers, costs which are not usually covered by major insurance companies.
So how do we go about making mental health services more accessible? We must make the industry more:
Accessible- ensuring there are mechanisms such as telemedicine to reduce the geographic and time barriers impeding patient access to care.
Affordable- partnering with insurance companies to offer some coverage for prospective patients allows you to offer quality care to those who need it most.
At Comet, we understand your passion for providing mental health care to the community. We also understand the technical difficulties of creating a more accessible service. Comet offers administrative support for mental health providers, including insurance credentialing services to alleviate the administrative burden. If you are interested in hearing more about our services or speaking to our team, please fill out the form on this page or send an email to [email protected].