In this thread, several posters mentioned treatment places for mental disorders that charged “on a sliding scale”. What exactly does that mean? How does it work? Do you have to provide some sort of proof of income and they charge you based on that?
Whats to stop a miserly rich person to pretend to be poor to save a few bucks? Does the quality of care differ based on your ability to pay? Will you get bumped off the list for someone willing to pay more?
Many places will ask for a copy of your tax returns, pay stub, or some other official document. The scale itself generally goes from full price down to a very minimal amount, or even free, in several increments.
For places that don’t require official documents, but simply ask what your income is, sure, people could lie; however, someone who’s well-off enough to pay full price for their treatment would generally get faster/better care at a clinic that didn’t have a sliding scale.
You won’t get better or worse treatment based on the amount you pay, but going to a sliding scale clinic means that you’re competing for treatment and the time of those who work there against people who don’t have the money to go see a doctor until they are acutely ill. You’re also competing against people who don’t have spare money to, say, go to the drugstore and get some Triaminic, but if they get a prescription can go and get that filled for free-- so they’ll drag the kid in anytime they sniffle so that they can get the drugs they need.
And no, you won’t get “bumped off the list” if someone comes in and is willing to pay more.
I believe each agency comes up with their own “sliding scale” policy. At the agency I used to work at, the clients could name their own price. If they wanted to pay 1 dollar for a session, that was OK, no matter what their financial situation was. Usually, a charitable grant or some sort of government funding source covered the balance of the cost. In some situations, the agency would recieve a set lump sum from a charitable organization or gov. agency and be told to serve as many clients as you can with the money and give them a report to show what you did . In this case, the services were “paid in advance” and the client would be able to name their own price.
There are some outstanding non-profit agencies that provide mental health services in my community. I feel that the quality of care can be just as good as those in the those services provided in the for profit sector.