In response to the Feb. 27 letter by Sasha Goss, titled “Therapists out of touch,” it’s quite the opposite. We are at the front lines of the current mental health crisis emerging in our country. In fact, there are hundreds of private practice mental health clinicians who currently contract with various MassHealth plans. As anyone knows who’s currently looked for a therapist, we are busy and often unable to accommodate new people. We don’t like turning people away. Furthermore, clinicians who have recently gone through the very long application process to provide for MassHealth members have often been denied, with the statement that there are already enough providers in your area. Clearly, that’s not the case, and pressure needs to be put on MassHealth to increase the number of providers enrolled.

The reimbursement rate from MassHealth is not the issue, they are compensating fairly as are many other insurance providers. Still, these companies are not always easy or fair to work with and can cause serious aggravation and hours of non reimbursable time. No one really likes dealing with insurance companies but for now, as I said earlier, there are still hundreds of us trying to provide care within a broken system while also taking care of ourselves. I can understand the writer’s frustration; however, sweeping generalizations that we’re out of touch, or greedy, are not true.

Geoffrey W. Locke, PhD, LICSW

Amherst

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