Insurance 101: Pros and Cons for Finding a Provider who is In-Network with your insurance
As a consumer of healthcare myself, I would prefer to use my insurance benefits.
When I was first looking for a behavioral health therapist, I knew that I would be seeing them over an extended period of time, and it felt more financially responsible to use benefits I was already paying for.
I wasn’t sold on her in our first few visits.
I told my best friend that I wasn’t sure if we were a good fit, and she encouraged me to find someone new. “But,” I said, “she takes my insurance.”
As time went on, it became more and more clear that it wasn’t a good fit. I made appointments after work and found that she was tired and repetitive and didn’t seem to remember things I thought were important for her to remember. I became less invested in the advice I was receiving.
I stopped seeing her altogether. She hasn’t reached out to check in. Maybe she also didn’t think it was a good fit, or maybe she just doesn’t have time.
I’d like to see someone new, but now it feels like I lost all that time trying to make it work based on what my insurance will cover, and I’m not excited about the prospect.
All that to say: I understand why people want to use their insurance benefits. (because I do, too!) But I won’t let my insurance be the only factor in choosing a provider.
The pros to finding someone who takes your insurance are:
It lets you use benefits you are already paying for through your premiums
The organization you’re being seen in will bill the insurance directly
You may be able to find providers on the website of your insurance company.
There are cons, too. The cons to finding someone who takes your insurance are:
You are limited to only providers in your network, regardless of their personality or expertise
It’s very possible you will still be surprised at how much you owe, because no one can tell you what you will owe before it’s billed
Your provider may (intentionally, or not) make care decisions based on what your insurance will pay for.
Your provider may have less time to spend working with you, or working with you one on one, because they have to see more patients in a day