From the News: Real Stories
Finding a therapist who takes your insurance can be nearly impossible. Here’s why
By Annie Waldman, Maya Miller, Max Blau, Duaa Eldeib, ProPublica; and Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR
“To understand the forces that drive even the most well-intentioned therapists from insurance networks, ProPublica plunged into a problem most often explored in statistics and one-off perspectives. Reporters spoke to hundreds of providers in nearly all 50 states, from rural communities to big cities.
The interviews underscore how the nation’s insurers — quietly, and with minimal pushback from lawmakers and regulators — have assumed an outsize role in mental health care.”
“Not Medically Necessary”: Inside the Company Helping America’s Biggest Health Insurers Deny Coverage for Care
by T. Christian Miller, ProPublica; Patrick Rucker, The Capitol Forum; and David Armstrong, ProPublica
“I Don’t Want to Die”: Needing Mental Health Care, He Got Trapped in His Insurer’s Ghost Network
by Max Blau, illustrations by Vanessa Saba, special to ProPublica
Ravi Coutinho bought a health insurance plan thinking it would deliver on its promise of access to mental health providers. But even after 21 phone calls and multiple hospitalizations, no one could find him a therapist.
