Dr. Paul F. Schmidt

Managed Care

I have chosen to live separate and apart from the realm of managed care. A private school with accredited teachers chooses to live outside the values, the financial support, and the inevitable paperwork and regulation of public education. In the same way and for many of same reasons, I am not included in any discounted provider networks run by and for insurance companies. I believe it is better for me personally, but it is especially much better for you.

Under Managed Care, you need to see how the system drains the life out of the counselors and counselees who use it. The case managers tell you (and their counselors) whom you can see, for how long, and just how the money is to flow. The managed care counselor (MCC) works more for them than for you. You sign a release that lets their employees have access to your personal history, which they take from the MCC. Too much like too many divorce lawyers, managed care administrators get all their money up front, they find out intimate details of your life, they exploit and come between the two parties (you and your counselor), they make more money when you distrust each other (fewer sessions to pay for), and too often they are the only ones satisfied with the outcome. The medical model, the quality-cutting demands of cost-cutting, and the paperwork and phone calls directed to people we’ll never meet would bring out neither the human nor the divine in either one of us.

In my office, I will work only for you. The two of us work out together how the counseling proceeds. Academic research journals show strongly that people get much more out of counseling when they know they share major beliefs and values with their counselor [review by Bergin, in The American Psychologist,1991, citing 75 sources]. In order to confirm that I share your lifestyle and beliefs, you can ask me anything you want to know about my Values & Beliefs, and I am always happy to speak with you personally by phone prior to intake. For the difference between $140 and your insurance copay, look what you get:

Purpose

Managed Care

Therapy must aim at symptom relief, not your underlying attitudes, beliefs, emotions, and relationships.

In My Office

I treat the whole person, plus the family, lifestyle, and conditions which cause or fuel your problems.

Patients

Managed Care

Officially, only individuals can be treated — not couples or families. Who will be the identified patient?

In My Office

I treat couples and whole families wherever they need help, without singling anyone out as the sick one.

Privacy

Managed Care

Your history goes into a computer database which many can access.

In My Office

I keep everything in one chart, and if you wish something not be written down, not even there.

Perspective

Managed Care

People and problems must be described by the medical model. Diagnosis is by DSM categories. You are stuck with a label.

In My Office

I am open to all psychological approaches to diagnosis and treatment, but I understand and accept people as unique individuals.

Professionalism

Managed Care

Many “network providers” are financially dependent upon the referrals they get from Managed Care. They would rather make a living on their own, but they feel they are only good enough to earn your copay.

In My Office

I believe I’m a good enough therapist to be worth $140 per hour, out of your pocket. By working with resources in your life and giving extensive homework assignments, I rise to the challenge of discovering how to prove that what happens in my office is worth the money.