I am a licensed therapist in Colorado and I have a client who has been paying me out of pocket, due to their lack of

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Customer: Hello, I am a licensed therapist in Colorado and I have a client who has been paying me out of pocket, due to their lack of health insurance. However, the client recently started healthcare coverage through Medicaid. I was reading some things online that made it seem that it is illegal to charge a client out of pocket if they are on Medicaid. Is that correct? Does it change things since I am not credentialed with Medicaid?
JA: Have you talked to a CO lawyer about this?
Customer: No, i have just been searching online
JA: What steps have you taken so far?
Customer: None, just looking online a different articles and trying to find any laws that actually state this.
JA: Is there anything else the Lawyer should know before I connect you? Rest assured that they'll be able to help you.
Customer: No, I think that's all the info needed.
Answered by Dr. Monroe Mann in 17 mins 5 months ago
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Dr. Monroe Mann
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Dr. Monroe Mann
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Dr. Monroe Mann, Expert

Hi.  I am responding to your question now.  One moment.
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Dr. Monroe Mann, Expert

Hello! My name is ***** ***** attorney. Thank you for reaching out to Just Answer, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to assist you today. The paragraph of text below is a standard disclaimer/reminder I share with all customers. You will find my actual response below this reminder. Finally, if you get a phone call request, that's not me making the request. You can simply disregard that, and we can chat by typing.

REMINDER: This is not legal advice. While I am a licensed NY attorney, I may not be licensed in your state, and therefore I am only entitled to share general legal information, rather than precise legal counsel for your particular situation. Therefore, this is not an attorney-client relationship, and you understand that I take no responsibility for any misinterpretations given that I have not seen any of the documents in question, and do not know the specifics of your particular state's law. I merely am giving you some general legal information that may or may not apply in your particular situation. I heartily suggest that--to gain absolutely clarity and to ensure you do indeed understand your situation--you should hire a local attorney in your state to ensure proper legal analysis is conducted. These answers I provide are merely an informative service to help you better understand the context around legal situations similar to your legal situation, but not necessarily particular to your legal situation.

I am terribly sorry to hear you are going through this difficulty. I can imagine how frustrating it must be, and I'm here to try to help!

As far as I know, no therapist anywhere in the country is required to accept medicaid.  According to the APA, most psychologists don't accept medicare OR medicaid: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2010/05/medicare

So unless there is some unique law in Colorado (and I can't imagine there is), you are under no obligation to accept payment through medicaid.

To be sure, though, you should double check with a local CO attorney, or call your state therapist licensing board.  You can start here: https://dpo.colorado.gov/ProfessionalCounselor

To find a good local attorney, I recommend you check out http://www.martindale.com This is the biggest lawyer search company in the USA, and the search is free. Just type in relevant words such as your city, state, and the type of lawyer needed, for example: "Miami Criminal Defense" or "Juno Alaska Real Estate" or "Kansas City Contract Attorney". You will get a list of many competent attorneys. Get in touch with 5, 10, or even 50 until you find one you like, who you trust, and who is eager to take on your case. Sometimes it takes a lot of emails and phone calls to find the perfect attorney for your particular situation. And if you are persistent, you can usually always find a good attorney who you can afford. I honestly recommend you contact 50 of them or more, because those individuals who do reach out to about 50 prospective attorneys are consistently more likely to find the perfect lawyer. Those individuals who only interview a few attorneys sometimes do not choose the best person for the job. I know it seems like a big chore to reach out to so many, but if this legal matter is really important to you, you will spend the extra time on the front end to ensure you get the best person for your unique circumstances.


I hope this is helpful!

Note that I am not on my computer 24/7, so thank you too in advance for your patience with my responses. If ever you do not hear back from me within 24 hours, please don't hesitate to send a friendly follow up!

Customer
Monroe, that you for the recommendations.
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Dr. Monroe Mann, Expert

You are very welcome!  Happy to assist!
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Thank you very much for allowing me to be of service. I enjoyed helping you.

For more information about me, you can read more at www.monroemannlaw.com

Have a great day/night!

And if you need additional assistance, please just let me know here in response.

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