The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down, but
No I'm not breaking
I may not know it, but
These are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep goin',
And I, I gotta be strong
Just keep pushing on, 'cause
There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waitin' on the other side
It's the climb
The biggest mountain I have faced so far is transferring all of my credentialing with insurance companies over to my new location. I am very lucky to be part of a large clinic that already had me credentialed with just about every possible carrier. What I wasn't sure of was how that would translate to my new solo practice at Stages. Two carriers denied me initially. I appealed and only one of them overturned. Which means that one (rather large) carrier continues to deny me coverage, and it means saying goodbye to those clients, unless they can afford to use their out-of-network benefits and pay for it... many people cannot do this.
The carrier that continues to deny me is Health Partners. They denied me originally saying they have enough providers in this demographic area (keep in mind, I was already in their network at my current practice). I appealed with a letter very specifically outlining the need for more providers in the south metro that specialize in perinatal mental health. They responded, "we have enough... " When pressed further (through many many back and forth emails with a rep there) I was also told that they rarely credential solo practices, and that there isn't anything I can do.
Pregnancy and Postpartum Support MN (PPSM), of which I am the proud Co-Director, has spent a lot of time (a LOT) interviewing and vetting providers in the Twin Cities metro area that declare a specialty in perinatal mental health, and who have paid an additional membership fee to be part of our resource list. This means something to us within PPSM. It means that they care so much about the area of perinatal mental health, and have had so much training, that they want to be known as having a competency in this very specialized area so that new and expectant parents can find them and be confident they are seeing someone that knows about this specialized area of mental health. We have ALL heard horror stories from clients who have seen providers who do not have a specialty in this area, and how many of them have left feeling ashamed, frightened and misunderstood not because the therapists hearts aren't in the right place, but because they are not adequately educated about working with Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders (or PMADs).
Interestingly enough, my fellow co-director Lisa Cross and I did some research on the providers Health Partners has on their list with a declared specialty in PMADs. And guess what? Not one single one of them is on the PPSM Resource List. Lisa could also not find any that mention on their personal websites that they specifically work with PMADs. Why is that? Likely, it is because when Health Partners does credential someone, they are sent a generic checklist asking what things the provider will work with. A provider can check the box for postpartum depression or maternal mental health (depending on how it's worded on their form) but they do not need to prove their training in these areas. This explains why their list makes it appear that they have an adequate supply of providers who work with this specialty.
I'm still climbing this mountain, and while I have not crested the peak, I have had to stop and get some air. The truth is that we need some reform and education within insurance companies to let them know how specific PMADs are. Lisa and I attended a wonderful breakout at the PSI Conference in June about how Cigna is tackling this issue. We know it is happening (just not at Health Partners), it just needs to spread.
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