UnitedHealth Care denied claim because a “licensed professional counselor” is not a mental health provider. What is the best argument to make on appeal?

Psychiatrists, psychologists, MFTs and MSWs are specifically licensed as such in the states where they practice. Those licensures include requirements for years of education and years of supervised training-in-practice. In my state an MFT who's done with her master's degree needs 3000 hours of supervised work, often unpaid, before achieving the state licensure.

There are many licensing bodies who'd like their licensees to get at that lucrative fountain of healthcare dollars, but states and insurers have generally not been quick to follow along. Your person may be perfectly competent - or not - but they do not have one of the standard licenses, so no dice for you.

I'm board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (though as a neurologist). My impression is that most people with these mail-order licenses aren't competent to govern their own lives, let alone give wise counsel to others. Half the "certified" drug and alcohol counselors in my area are addicts themselves. They're supposed to be recovered addicts, but I an others see them out drinking on Saturday night, getting sloppy.

/r/personalfinance Thread