Curt and Katie talk about antitrust laws – how they impact therapists, how to avoid concerns, and what to pay attention to when you’re a therapist.
It’s time to reimagine therapy and what it means to be a therapist. To support you as a whole person and a therapist, your hosts, Curt Widhalm and Katie Vernoy talk about how to approach the role of therapist in the modern age.
In this episode we talk about:
Sherman Antitrust Law
Why antitrust laws are important
Looking at insurance companies and the discrepancy that therapists are more held to antitrust than insurance companies for complicated reasons
Therapy practices are businesses and in competition with each other
Price Fixing and Market Share agreements
The problem and risk with group boycotts
The difference between colluding and discussing publicly available information
How competition discussing fees in small Facebook groups can lead to price fixing
The Cardigan Cartel
How to communicate fees and discuss insurance issues without getting into antitrust issues
Individuals on insurance panels are still competitors
How Antitrust can be anti-consumer
What the risks are for discussing pros and cons of different insurance panels
How to avoid anti-trust problems
Why you should talk to an attorney if you’re concerned
How interstate commerce relates to antitrust and how Insurance Plans can play a game to get out of all of this
The differences between employees who can strike and separate businesses banding together
How Single-Payer relates to this topic
How associations play into this and why they can survey their members on fees and other aspects of their businesses
The difference between being responsible as a business owner and following the trends
Sharing information, without making decisions and planning together
How often therapists or other healthcare providers get in trouble for antitrust concerns, as well as related licenses
Publicly available information is safe to discuss
Share information, but don’t put a call to action to do something with your colleagues
