Fees | Insurance and Treatment Decisions | Medicare | Other Charges
Fees
Unless other arrangements are made, payment is due for each appointment at the time it is held. Dr. Nathan can accept payment via check, Visa and MasterCard.
Insurance and Treatment Decisions
While there are continuous developments in the field of psychiatry, Dr. Nathan regards the doctor-patient relationship as the unchanging foundation of high quality treatment and good outcomes. For this reason he has chosen to be a solo practitioner, and his practice is not administered in any way by a hospital, group practice, PPO or HMO.
Dr. Nathan refuses any money or gifts from pharmaceutical companies (other than samples for his patients) to ensure that his decision-making is as free of commercial bias as possible.
He makes no contractual arrangements with and is not an “in-network” provider for any insurance company.
He has chosen this approach to maximize time spent in patient care and minimize the sharing of clinical information with insurance company employees who could dictate choices about treatment.
If patients plan to use insurance benefits to cover the cost of treatment, they should first be sure they have met any prior authorization or referral requirements of their insurance plans. Recently there has been a trend for insurance companies to require that doctors—even out of network doctors—complete a “prior authorization” process for appointments or certain (i.e. more expensive) prescription medications. Contrary to what insurance companies want patients to believe, they will often waive the prior authorization requirement if patients firmly and repeatedly insist that the chosen physician does not have the staffing needed to deal with them and refuses to do so. Prior authorizations are frustrating and tedious, taking much time away from patient care, so please be aware that if patients want/need Dr. Nathan to defend their insurance coverage, he needs to charge for his time (usually 10-20 minutes for each prior authorization).
Medicare
Medicare patients should know that Dr. Nathan is no longer a Medicare provider, and neither Medicare nor Medigap insurance programs will reimburse patients for the cost of their visits. Medicare patients are required by law to sign a private contract with Dr. Nathan to document their understanding that Dr. Nathan has “opted out” of Medicare.
Other Charges
If patients have other specific needs beyond face-to-face meetings (examples include extensive record review, report writing or frequent contact by phone or email with the patient or family), they need to let Dr. Nathan know in advance so that he can be clear about any appropriate charges.
Finally, because Dr. Nathan needs at least one day to fill an open appointment slot, patients are expected to pay for all scheduled appointments unless they are canceled more than twenty-four hours in advance. Note that insurers do not reimburse patients for missed appointments or late cancellations.