When patients have difficulty getting their insurer to cover the cost of our services, we recommend this service to help you navigate the maze of insurance company regulations: Cover My Mental Health is a non-profit that gives advice and encouragement to people at different stages of the process, including: No in-network care When a claim is denied Next steps: formal …
Fee Changes – March 2025
We hope the new year is off to a good start and look forward to continuing to support you in your mental health and wellness goals. As we do each year, we are reviewing our fees to ensure they remain appropriate. Fee revisions typically occur annually. We base our updates on an analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor …
Gateway Psychiatric Fee Update: Effective February 1, 2024
At Gateway Psychiatric, we strive to provide the highest quality mental healthcare services while ensuring our practice remains financially sustainable. To achieve this, we regularly review and adjust our fees to reflect the rising costs of healthcare and ensure we can continue to attract and retain experienced, compassionate clinicians. Our annual fee revisions are based on a comprehensive analysis of …
Fee Changes 2023
It is time to update our fee list. February 2022 was the last time we revised our fees. Every year we update our fee list to reflect the changes in the cost of living. We have outlined the process as follows: Our fees are no longer comparable to those of comparable practices. In addition, our costs have gone up significantly …
Charges for Consultations and Updates via Email
With the recent explosion in interest in and use of various types of telehealth services, patients are becoming used to getting in touch with their health care provider through their home computer or cellphone. We celebrate the increase in channels for communication and hope that it will result in better accessibility to health care for all. However, we also have …
Walgreens Doesn’t Care – Why I Don’t Approve Refills Automatically
Today one of my patients had a simple request – “Doc, I don’t know if you need to write new prescriptions, but my pharmacy will ask for a refill if I do.” I said that I it is my policy to always write refills in session so that I can make sure that I and my patients understand what medications …
Telemedicine Coverage Mandatory in California
California Governor Signs New Telehealth Insurance Law On October 11, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a new law requiring commercial health insurance coverage and payment parity for telehealth services, unfortunately the law won’t take effect until 2021. However, in consideration of the State of Emergency declared by the Governor and the Secretary for Health and Human Services, an industry trade group, America’s …
Deaths of Despair – Suicide & Self Injury Crisis in US
The news of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade’s death by suicide as well as the CDC’s report on increasing suicide rates in the US reminds us of a larger public health crisis that was given the name “deaths of despair” by researchers Case and Deaton (see below). We have been collecting information on this topic in preparation for an effort …
Requesting Out of Network Coverage for Psychiatrist
EXTENDING MEDICAL BENEFITS TO NON-PREFERRED PROVIDER PHYSICIANS Some of the most heartrending calls that we receive from potential patients have to do with people who are unable to find psychiatrists who are covered under their insurance plan. One solution may be to request out of network coverage for a psychiatrist. Background There are several problems that make this a common …
Where is the Outrage About Suicide?
A wonderful editorial in JAMA Psychiatry highlights the overwhelming evidence that stigma is continuing to drive underfunding for treatment and prevention of suicide deaths. Suicide and “accidental” overdose deaths are an epidemic in this country. Since 1999, the rate of suicide deaths increased by 28.2%, and this probably underestimates the increase because there is evidence that coroners are categorizing more and …
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