Posted by Wittgensteinz on January 9, 2009, at 4:42:13
In reply to My psychologist charges a lot!, posted by Abby Cunningham on January 8, 2009, at 17:36:48
$270 does seem a lot. Things are quite different in the Netherlands. Most therapists and all psychiatrists are covered completely if they work within an institute/clinic of some kind. The exception is for those who decide to work independently. My T (an analyst) isn't covered by insurance, as he works independently, so it all comes out of my pocket. You might think me mad to have opted for a high-cost treatment instead of seeing someone for free but there were clear benefits of opting for an independent therapist.
That said he does give me a reduced rate - I pay just under $70 a session, and see him twice weekly. I think his standard rate is $110. I don't know how much he actually 'gets' as the Netherlands has high taxes.
I think you should be happy you are just paying $10 and that $235 figure could be misleading once tax and insurance have taken their chunk off.
In England I had to see a psychiatrist a couple of times privately and that cost something like $400 a time for 50 minutes (the second session we were finished in 30 minutes but he still charged the same rate). Fortunately my insurance fully covered it but most in the UK don't have insurance as there is a public health system - so I was lucky. As far as seeing a free pdoc - that would have meant a 4 month or more wait (if my GP would have referred me - and trying to get a referral is like trying to find gold dust).
Personally, I think things are in a very sorry state in the UK as far as mental health care is concerned (don't be mislead by the rosy picture painted by Michael Moore's 'Sicko'). I'm very happy I don't live there anymore.
poster:Wittgensteinz
thread:872811
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20090109/msgs/872919.html