*nods* You usually can't just call up a shrink like you would any other doc on your PPO plan and go. You have to call a special number, get registered as a nut case with your insurance, haggle with a nurse over whether you are sick enough to go to a medical doctor or if you just need therapy with a (less expensive) MA or PhD.
And then your co-pay is higher. Sometimes there's an amount you have to pay out of pocket for "mental health services" before co-pay kicks in, and sometimes you have to pay up front and wait months to be reimbursed by insurance, unlike other doctor visits. The number of allowed visits/year is usually too few if you have to make many trips to adjust meds, and the "non-preferred" drugs a doc is likely to prescribe are through the roof.
And that's *if* you have insurance. If you don't, you truly have to be a raving nut case with a large supply of ammo to get public mental health assistance.
no subject
And then your co-pay is higher. Sometimes there's an amount you have to pay out of pocket for "mental health services" before co-pay kicks in, and sometimes you have to pay up front and wait months to be reimbursed by insurance, unlike other doctor visits. The number of allowed visits/year is usually too few if you have to make many trips to adjust meds, and the "non-preferred" drugs a doc is likely to prescribe are through the roof.
And that's *if* you have insurance. If you don't, you truly have to be a raving nut case with a large supply of ammo to get public mental health assistance.
*sigh*