Hacker News Reader

Comment by candiddevmike | Hacker News Reader

Related, is it difficult all over the US to find mental health resources? Wait times for counselors and therapists are months+. Additionally, insurance seems to not cover mental health stuff well if at all, if you're lucky to get an appointment it seems you're paying out of pocket.

View on HN

Yes. Last time, it took me 5 months to replace a psychiatrist. I had to wait almost a month to get on waiting list.

There is no online sign up. It’s all by phone. Most of the time , you call and it goes to voice mail. You leave a message and never get called back.

The few times I have gotten a person, most of them said they weren’t taking new patients.

If you miss more than one appointment without calling the day before, some places drop you.

Living in the US, sometimes it feels like I’m not worth keeping around unless someone else can profit from my existence.

I mean, your experience in the US is exactly like mine in European public care system looking for a psychiatrist or other more niche doctor: Multi month long waiting lists, doctors who are full and don't take any new patients, needing to go private out of pocket. Even the good private ones are booked weeks into the future.

But it is the private health care in US. There is no other option unlike you who can choose to go private. And I would guess that your out of pocket payment will not cause you to go to bankruptcy.

Yes, many (if not most?) providers stopped taking insurance for various reasons. The rates provided by insurers are a fraction of the rates they can get charging out of pocket. And insurers try to shorten therapy sessions, or ask why a patient still needs therapy, etc.

I don’t know why mental health specifically has these issues out of all the medical professions though.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com