Cost of Seeking Help
Seeking help for mental health is one step of the process, but for many students, finances can be the obstacle in attaining services. The difference of cost varies from services on and off-campus, and students must weigh the cost on which option to choose.
The National Council for Mental Wellbeing reports that 42 percent of the U.S. population rated cost and lack of insurance coverage as the top barriers for mental health care.
USM provides several mental health service options for students, with lower costs being advertised compared to other off campus resources. These lower price tags are a deal breaker for many students.
One of the key features of USM’s Student Counseling Services is that it is free of cost to students for up to eight sessions per semester, eliminating the burden of expenses linked to other mental health services. Students only have to pay fees from other services they are referred to by SCS.
“Any services you would get from us, you’ve already paid for by paying your tuition, so none of the resources or services we provide in-house cost a dime,” SCS Assistant Director Amanda Kirtland said.
Students can also utilize the USM’s Center for Behavioral Health, which have fees that differ based on what kind of services the student requires.
Individual counseling and therapy services are based on a sliding scale on income while assessment services and some specialty programs are fixed but kept at a lower cost than off-campus.
For therapy services, community member fees range from $10 to $50 a session while currently enrolled USM students are offered therapy services for $10 a session. Assessment fees are $300 for community members, but for USM students, staff, and faculty the rate is reduced to $200.
The reduced cost of services on campus can be a leading factor to why students choose to use USM’s mental health services.
Mississippi Behavioral Health Supervisor Jessica Beaurain said that while community mental health facilities are covered under the Department of Mental Health and can provide sliding scale fees based on income, private coverage can be much more expensive- around $189 an hour.
Casey Johnson started a private practice for people seeking mental health services in Hattiesburg after working as a counselor at SCS. During his time at his practice, The Garden Counseling, Johnson said he has seen students switch to off-campus resources, but many encounter issues with having insurance that cover such services.
“A lot of students don’t have insurance that will cover mental health services, and for those people, Student Counseling Services has a much better deal in being debt-free, confidential counseling for currently enrolled students on campus,” Johnson said. “But there were also a few students who had insurance, and it wasn’t that big of a financial commitment to come over with me and see me off campus.”
One such case is first-year nursing student JonBene’t Kepper, who feared the potential cost she could face going off campus, but found a therapist that worked with her by offering student rates. It may be a unique situation, but she says she is grateful for the lower cost because it has motivated her to use the services.
“When you find somebody that considers the situations that you’re in and what’s going on in your life currently, that really has pushed me to keep going, and it’s been really helpful because college finances are hard,” Kepper said.
Unlike Kepper, there may be some students who struggle with finding adequate mental health services because their insurence does not cover mental health, or the coverage is lacking.
According to The White House’s Council of Economic Advisers [CEA], only about half of insured adults find their plans to have adequate mental health coverage.
“I know that a lot of times for insurance policies, mental health benefits are different from regular benefits, so where you might be covered to see your doctor for a cold, it might not be for counseling. Every policy and every insurance company is different so that really depends on how the patient is covered for what they will pay for different services,” Assistant Manager at Hattiesburg Clinic Connections and Psychology & Counseling Haylee Green said.
Even with regulation such as The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act requiring insurance plans to provide equal treatment between mental and physical health services, the CEA reports mental health services are five times more likely to be charged out of network, which places higher costs in the hands of patients.
For instance, licensed insurance agent Chase Norris says insurance companies like Ambetter cover major facilities around Hattiesburg, but other policies do not cover services at institutions like Merit Health Wesley. Most plans are network-based, meaning students must find in-network providers to cover their services.
“If it’s out of network, they are not going to cover it,” Norris said. “Very few plans are PPO (Preferred Provider Organization), where you are able to go in and out of the network, and you’ll have a higher cost if you go out of network.”
According to the University of Pittsburg Medical Center, if a doctor or facility is in your network, they accept your health insurance plan. In-network providers have a contract with your insurance company and offer approved, often discounted, rates that the insurance will pay for some or all of the services you receive from the provider. These rates make services more affordable for patients.
On the other hand, a provider who is not contracted with your insurance company is referred to as “out-of-network,” meaning they do not have an agreement with the insurance company to receive payments at a negotiated rate.
CEA reports mental health services are more than five times as likely to be charged out-of-network.
Norris said to always check your plan for details on the copay, deductible or coinsurance, and the total out-of-pocket cost because the majority of the time, it could be out of network.
Insurance and finances are an area that students have to navigate to find mental health services, but Johnson says many students are not even aware of the free or low-cost services that are provided on campus.
“I make it a point to refer those people back to campus because one of the biggest stressors for students is finances and if they can access free counseling services, that’s a big deal,” Johnson said.
Even though students may find other options that accommodate their needs off campus, USM’s mental health services can be the most cost effective for those prioritizing finances.
White said he waited a year on the CBH’s waitlist in order to save money. And according to Kepper, the CBH told her in April that the waitlist is currently a year and a half.
CBH Director Kristy D. McRaney declined our request for an interview.
Still, White advises students to try to utilize campus resources if cost is an important factor in their decision.
“If you want to save a lot of money, do it through the USM Center for Behavioral Health, but you better get on the waitlist early,” White said.