Excellent questions! Honestly, we could (and probably will) write entire articles about getting payment from clients without damaging the therapeutic relationship. So keep an eye on the site! To your specific question though, the best way is going to be to verify the client’s benefits beforehand. This keeps all the leverage on your side and ensures that the client cannot claim they didn’t know. To be blunt, nothing motivates someone to pay for services already rendered. Basically you are left with the ‘going nuclear’ option: refuse all future requests from the client (such as records) that you can ethically and legally until they pay. This has the unfortunate side effect of most likely destroying any potential relationship and potentially leading to bad online reviews.

The best way to get information regarding changes in pay rates is call your contact person with the insurance companies you are paneled with. I think there is currently a lot of bluster and misinformation going around- so don’t get too caught up in it. Until next years fee schedules come out, it’s all just speculation.

Also if there are high deductible plans and you see someone for testing only a few times what motivates them to pay their portion post facto?