BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – If you’re struggling to get an appointment with a licensed mental health counselor with your insurance, you’re not alone.
While many providers accept Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance, a spokesperson with the National Association of Social Workers says providers tell her insurance policies are hindering caseloads.
Reimbursements from insurance companies to mental health providers are a fraction of what’s reimbursed to physicians. She adds that paperwork means many providers spend more trying to get reimbursed than with clients. It’s leading many licensed professionals to accept fewer clients using insurance, and more clients paying out of pocket.
“There’s a growing number of clinicians who are not taking insurance. if you don’t have the money to pay out of pocket, then you are waiting for somebody who is within network,” said Lynn Currier Stanley of the National Association of Social Workers Vermont.
The Office of Professional Regulation says there is a shortage of mental health clinicians, but state data and federal designation show that Vermont has no shortage of clinicians.
Nonetheless, they’ve issued a report on how to change the licensure process to enable more professionals to get their license to end their perception of a shortage.
“I could do more if I was licensed, and I would be able to help more people if I was licensed,” says therapist Edward Spaulding.
Spaulding has two bachelors, a master’s, a PhD, and over 14 years of experience working in the mental health field. What he doesn’t have is a license to practice psychotherapy.
“I was rejected with my first application because I didn’t have enough in-person credit hours,” said Spaulding.
Spaulding says he studied at an online university called Walden so he could take care of his father while he was sick.
Excessive education requirements are one of the main findings in a new report that showcases the barriers to increasing the state’s supply of clinical mental health counselors.
“We need qualified mental health providers out there, we need more than we currently have,” said Deputy Secretary of State Lauren Hibbert.
Without a license, Spaulding has to have a supervisor for every client he counsels. Meaning that the supervisor can’t see other patients while they’re with him. The Office of Professional Regulation, or O.P.R. found some supervision requirements decrease care access.
“We really want to look at supervision as a whole and streamline and consolidate that, make it more standard across all of our professions,” said Hibbert.
Streamline and standardize are keywords in the report. O.P.R. finds the law as it stands has redundancies in licensure qualifications and the boards that issue the licenses.
“We should consolidate the majority of our mental health professions in a vertical structure, meaning within one board. Right now they’re silo-ed,” said Hibbert.
Not everyone thinks changing the requirements for licensure is a good idea. Stanley says licensure is about consumer protection, and making it easier to get one doesn’t make care safer. She adds if we wanted more doctors, we wouldn’t make it easier to become one.
“At best it’s not helpful, there’s no progress. At worst it is harmful,” said Stanely.
O.P.R. wants to write a bill to address the shortage of professionals next year, but while we wait, Spaulding says he’ll keep fighting for a license.
“I’m not giving up on the place that I love or the people that need help,“ said Spaulding.
The last major finding the report uncovered was barriers to licensure for individuals from marginalized groups. A lack of diversity in supervisors, accommodations in exams, and the quote, paper ceiling, limit representation in the field.