I am cross-posting this amazingly well written letter from my friend and colleague at Whole Human Psychiatry, Dr. Lisa Goldman. She summed up my own sentiments on this topic quite eloquently!

Dear Inquiring Patient,

Thank you for asking this important and highly relevant question. The short answer is NO,  I don’t “take” insurance but YES I will help you bill your own insurance as my services are billable to many insurance plans as an out of network provider. The bottom line is that you pay me when you come in to see me and I take care of you and provide you with a one page billing form so that you can BILL YOUR OWN INSURANCE and then they may or may not reimburse you- ie- pay you back for part (usually not all) of your services with me by SENDING A CHECK TO YOU, not to me!

If you want to know why I decided to practice psychiatry this way, please read on.