Find Mental Health Providers & Behavioral Health Resources

Ways to #Find a Therapist

• Find Therapists that accept Medicare 
  • Medicare Expands the Roster of Available Mental Health Professionals
• All Insurance Companies – Mental Health Provider Finder
  • Blue Shield - How to access your mental Health Benefits
    • More info
• More Americans Are Seeking Mental Health Care In A ‘Therapy Boom Read More  Kff News
• One estimate suggests 42% of therapists in California don’t accept insurance at all. Without the financial help of insurance, clients pay an average of $130 out of pocket per session. It can be much higher in major cities. Read more:  *1/3 won't take Insurance *   
  • What's stopping therapists from providing affordable Mental Health Care?
    • Nearly impossible
  • Insurance challenges limit psychologists’ capacity to address ongoing mental health needs  Read More  APA.org *
• Helping employees find support for their mental health A quick view of Anthem’s behavioral health programs
• npr.org/mental-health-care-shortage-medicare-medicaid

Google Search for ONLINE Therapists

Here’s what I googled for online therapists. Check with them and ask what Insurance Plans they take. Then double check on the official Insurance Company provider list.

• A step-by-step guide to finding a therapist NPR
• 988 mental health hotline is live. Here's what to know  NPR
• apa.org/online-therapy
• talk space
• amwell.com/online-therapy/
• live health online.com/psychology
• psychologytoday.com/depression/ca/torrance
• meetup.com
• nami south bay.com/support-groups
• Patients Seek Mental Health Care From Their Doctor But Find Health Plans Standing in the Way
• Mental health patient directories rife with ‘phantom’ providers  almost six out of 10 in-network providers listed under Oregon Medicaid provider directories are not actually available to see patients
• If any of our longshoremen/ILWU folks are looking for individual or couples therapy in San Pedro, it is completely covered by their insurance.You can reach me anytime to start therapy or for help in finding the right therapist for them:

  Henry "Enrique" Ortiz, Psy.D.
  [email protected]
  (310) 776.2667
  web psych.com

How much does a therapist get to see you?

• • Physician Fee Schedule CMS.gov
  • Medicare Provider Finder
  • 45-minute psychotherapy session (the most common mental health service) Medicare pays just $84.74 psychologists are leaving Medicare, reducing their Medicare patient loads, and stop taking new Medicare patients. APA Services.org
  • Medicare Physician Fee Schedule 1.1.2019 Los Angeles Are 18
    • 90834 Individual psychotherapy, 45 minutes
    • # -These amounts apply when service is performed in a facility setting
  • 
    • Training Code Manual
• Question I am a provider and I can’t seem to find out rates Medi-Cal will pay for Behavioral Health codes.  Client has primary and this would be for their secondary.  Here is one of the codes- H2019. Can you help?
  • Answer The Medi-Cal rates do not contain these codes so I called Medi-Cal where they told me they have the description of each code but not the rates and for me to call Medicare (Noridian Health Care Solutions) where they said Medicare does not cover these codes.
  • I know that Medi-Cal covers but I can’t see to find rates for the codes we use. It’s for Behavioral health-ABA.
  • CPT codes and maximum allowances for psychological services
  • § 51505.3. Psychology Services.  H2019 is a valid 2019 HCPCS code for Therapeutic behavioral services, per 15 minutes or just “Ther behav svc, per 15 min” for short, used in Other medical items or services. https://hcpcs.codes/h-codes/H2019/
• Therapists Flee Kaiser as Mental Health Patients Languish
• Why mental health providers say Medi-Cal’s latest reform may force them to cut services
  • Over 2,000 Kaiser Permanente Mental Health Workers To Strike Today
  • California probes Kaiser over enrollee access to mental health appointments
  • Insurance companies are forcing psychiatrists like me to stop accepting their coverage

#Individual Therapy

There are a lot of people suffering from a mental health condition who need therapy. And there are a lot of therapists who want to help them. But both sides believe the insurance companies that are supposed to bring them together are actually keeping them apart.  Nearly half of therapists in California don’t take insurance as reimbursement rates don’t provide a living wage,

Most insurance companies pay therapists in their networks between $60 and $80 per session. In the San Francisco area and Los Angeles, therapists say the market rate for therapy is more like $150 to $200 a session.

“The second thing is the paperwork. For an hour of psychotherapy you spend a half-hour on paperwork,   ^{CA Health}

Find a Support Group
Links & Resources 

• psychology today.com/groups
• meet up.com/depression-support-group
• nami south bay.com/support groups
• d b s a south bay.org/ DEPRESSION AND BIPOLAR SUPPORT ALLIANCE – SOUTH BAY, TORRANCE
• Introduction to Therapy – Los Angeles Times 12,23.2020 
• Low cost alternatives to therapy 9.22.2021
• FAQ on if Mental Health Therapist Benefits vary by Metal Level  
• chabad.org/Ten-Hacks-for-Mental-Control-That-Every-Human-Being-Should-Know
  • 10 Delusional Beliefs Held by Chronic Worriers  Psychology Today
• Americans can wait many weeks to see a therapist. California law aims to fix that  NPR 11.18.2021
  • Senate Bill 221
  • New California Law Makes It Easier to Get Care for Mental Health and Substance Abuse CA Health Line
    • SB-855,
  • More than half of private practice therapists worry about economy, plan to raise rates in 2023, survey finds  
• St. Dymphna, patron saint of mental health LA Times May 14, 2022
• it is essential that the healthcare industry reduce stigma, enhance affordability, and improve patient education surrounding mental health  Athena Health
• Autism Resource Center – Magellan

#TeleMed

This is our "Main Module" on Telemed.  Not just one specific Company but Telemed for ALL companies, in general.

• Telehealth has quickly become one of our nation’s most essential health care services — a safe and low-cost way to access care.
• Millions of users have now experienced and embraced what telehealth has to offer. Many won’t go back to traditional ways of getting care, including your employees. To meet the evolving preferences of your workforce, you should offer a health plan with connected virtual care options.  Learn More:   Kaiser  *
• Oscar covers Medically Necessary Covered Services offered through Telehealth by an In Network Provider subject to the terms and conditions of the their contracts with In Network Providers.   Telehealth Visits from certain Oscar-designated Telehealth Providers are covered in full.
• Telehealth Visits can be requested through Oscar’s website, mobile application, and their  customer service line  1-855-672-2755.
• Health Net Teladoc Medicare
  • FAQ Change from Babylon to Teladoc
• Teladoc (Telehealth) Introductory Flyer
• Teladoc (Telehealth) FAQs
• Teladoc (Telehealth) FAQs – En Español 
• Teladoc Caregiver flyer
• Teladoc Caregiver FAQs
• hioscar.com/doctor-on-call 
• Doctor On Demand.com
• hioscar.com/need-medical-advice-call-a-doctor-instead-of-your-mom
• EOC – Evidence of Coverage.
• Tele Med VIDEO Oscar
• OSCAR Tele Med 1 page flyer
• U.S. saw significant drop in telehealth use last year after rapid growth in 2020 ^{Modern Health Care} *
• Telehealth Companies Want Congress to Make Pandemic Expansion of Their Services Permanent Time Magazine 4.2022 *
• FAQs on Medicare Coverage of Telehealth
• Dental Visits Tele Health

Further clarification from Oscar:

• Our Doctor on Call benefit is on all Oscar plans and include Oscar physicians that are board certified in your state.
• These physicians are not specialists, they generally are listed as Internal Medicine, Primary Care, etc.
• These doctors are not found on our website because there is no way to visit/select which doctor you speak to.
• The physicians often service multiple states, as they are generally certified in multiple.
• Personally, when I used the Doctor on Call benefit (at 11 pm) the doctor called me within 10 minutes.
• If I called again today I would likely be speaking to a different physician.
• I checked with Oscar circa 4.4.2019 and their Tel Med is just for an initial visit.
• doctor on demand.com
• Emotional support helpline: 1-866-342-6892 – Optum
• AB 744 - TeleHealth 
• AB 744 will require contracts issued, amended or renewed after January 1, 2021 between a health care service plan and a health care provider to specify that the provider who delivers services appropriately through telehealth be reimbursed on the same basis and to the same extent that the plan would have had the same service been provided in-person.  The health plan cannot require the use of telehealth if the health care provider has determined that it is not appropriate nor does it limit the ability of the health plan and provider to negotiate the rate of reimbursement for a service. ^{TeleHealth Resources.org} *
• LA Times on Tele Med 8.2018

• telehealth is  the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance clinical health care, patient and professional health-related education, public health and health administration. Technologies include videoconferencing, the internet, store-and-forward imaging, streaming media, and terrestrial and wireless communications.

• Telehealth is different from telemedicine because it refers to a broader scope of remote healthcare services than telemedicine. While telemedicine refers specifically to remote clinical services, telehealth can refer to remote non-clinical services, such as provider training, administrative meetings, and continuing medical education, in addition to clinical services.

• AMA outlines key steps for advancing telehealth equity
• Telehealth didn't lead to unnecessary care in 2020, study says
• I checked with Oscar and their Tel Med is just for an initial visit.
• Here's what I googled for online therapists. Check with them and ask what Insurance Plans they take. Then double check on the official Insurance Company provider list.
  • apa.org/topics/psychotherapy/works
  • talk space.com
  • patients.amwell.com/services/online-therapy
  • live health online.com/therapy
• Pending Legislation???
• Hospitals face documentation and financial burden from new telehealth mandate
  • One health system told the ATA it would cost $1 million a year to comply with the billing requirements of the physician fee schedule final rule.  Health Care Finance 11/7/2025
• AMA’s Strategic Push for Permanent Medicare Telehealth Reform  hit consultant.net  1/2026 
  • CMS won't extend certain key pandemic-era Medicare telehealth expansion plans.
  • Teleheath for Medicare may end without congressional action November 2024
• Telehealth for Primary and Preventive Care Among Food-Insecure Individuals  ajmc.com 1/2026 

12 #Step Meetings & Therapist Confidentiality

The Twelve Traditions encourage members to practice the spiritual principle of anonymity in the public media and members are also asked to respect each other’s confidentiality.^[42] This is a group norm,^[42] however, and not legally mandated; there are no legal consequences to discourage those attending twelve-step groups from revealing information disclosed during meetings.^[43] Statutes on group therapy do not encompass those associations that lack a professional therapist or clergyman to whom confidentiality and privilege might apply. Professionals and paraprofessionals who refer patients to these groups, to avoid both civil liability and licensure problems, have been advised that they should alert their patients that, at any time, their statements made in meetings may be disclosed.^[43] wikipedia.org

Links & Resources

• Shouse Law – Therapist-Patient Privilege Evidence Code 1014
• CA Evidence Code Section 1014
• CA MFT.org
• Legislative Counsel Explanation

AA’s 12 STEPS, INCLUDING #POWERFUL 4 TH STEP WORKSHEETS   
Herb K's workbook

• How to create a table in Microsoft Word with tons of rows