Psychiatrist...
sapphire angel
member
Anyone seeing a psychiatrist? If so, would you mind telling me the cost of the appointments? Do you think it was worth it to go to that doctor? How often do you see the psychiatrist? What happens during the appointments?
My reasons for asking - My PPD has escalated to the point that my OB and counselor have communicated and decided that I should move on to a psychiatrist ASAP for more aggressive treatment. However, when I talked to the office they told me the first appointment is $225 dollars and follow-ups are $85 each. I still need to call my secondary insurance to see if they'll offer better coverage but I'm not optimistic on that possibility.
Financially I cannot afford this. There are three of us now living on $1400 a month with maybe $1000 in savings for the unexpected. But I really need to do something because I am miserable. I have enough Pristiq samples to last another 3 weeks but it's not a prescription so I won't be able to refill it.
TIA
Re: Psychiatrist...
i saw a psychiatrist a few times because i didn't feel like the meds my OB gave me were helping the way they should. i didn't really do talk therapy with him, i saw him solely for his expertise with antidepressants.i did find out after the fact that my therapist works in an office with a non-psychiatrist (not sure what they were, never saw them) who can dispense medications, so they could potentially work together to find the right combination of things. something like that might be cheaper.
the amount they quoted you sounds about right, is that what is remaining after your insurance pays?
check with your or your fiance's employer to see if they have a work/life balance plan, sometimes it covers counseling or mental health type things separately from health insurance. ask your referring caregivers and the psychiatrist's office what options are available for low income patients. are you on state/federal aid? i have no idea what they would cover, if anything, but $1400 for 3 people sounds like you should be able to qualify for something. since you aren't married, the numbers may work out even more in your favor for aid. (hugs)
Thanks for the ideas. Fiance is currently unemployed so we are on benefits but do not qualify for medicaid (grrr...stupid income levels). WIC we have and some Food Stams but they have not been re-approved for continuation yet because DD and I needed to be added to the plan. Apparently that means a whole new application which takes forever!
The $225 and $85 is after insurance costs for my insurance through the University (I'm only on it so that DD has some minimal coverage since I didn't qualify for Medicaid but it's injury and sickness only). My counseling sessions are up to 7 free individual sessions, 7 groups and 7 couple sessions, then I THINK $10 each after that. The psychiatrist is located in the same counseling center (which is apart of the university) so I guess I had really hoped the cost wouldn't be so high. I was thinking more like $100 for that first then less than $50 for follow-ups. That's more along something I could possibly manage to afford. I still need to check my own private insurance to see if they can offer more but they usually tell me that any office visits outside the Houston area are considered to be out of the network. And I am most definitely outside the Houston area. Sigh, I can't wait until all this goes away...
I saw one to be evaluated/diagnosed and am going back after 5 weeks to discuss how the Zoloft is working for me. I am also in treatment with a clinical psychologist (my issue is on the OCD spectrum, so cognitive behavioral therapy is important in addition to meds).
I have a co-pay, but otherwise my insurance covers 20 outpatient mental health visits each year. I will likely be seeing the psychologist for 10-ish sessions and the psychiatrist for a handful to tweak the meds as needed.
I firmly believe in seeing a specialist for these issues and found that the psychiatrist was able to immediately dial into my specific issues. My OB seemed really out of her knowledge realm and basically just said anxiety was normal for new moms.
Wow, I think I would just have to suffer through this if I had to pay that much. I think I've got the insurance figured out and should just have to pay my $35 co-pay for in-network doctors. The office just needed to call my insurance and confirm that they did accept me as a new patient even though they told United Healthcare otherwise in the on-line status for this particular doctor. If the doctor's office doesn't do this then it's back to the $85 per visit for out-of-network doctors.