Therapist reco thru Kaiser's Magellan provider
Hi there,
I am looking for referrals for a therapist through Kaiser's Magellan provider. This is the first time Kaiser has ever sent me through them and upon entering their "find a provider" system online, I received over 10,000 therapist names. The "narrow your search" filter was pretty useless. The website is magellanfindaprovider.com (if that rings a bell to anyone).
I'm specifically looking for someone in Oakland or Berkeley who specializes in women's issues, relationships, anxiety, mid-life kind of stuff.
Please reach out if you have any referrals! Thank you in advance!
Dec 1, 2018
Parent Replies
I was also approved by Kaiser to be referred via Magellan to find a provider. Unfortunately, I called over 50 providers (about two months ago) and didn't find a single one with openings for new patients in Berkeley, Albany, Kensington, El Cerrito, and Richmond. I didn't try Oakland. I told my PCP, and she expressed that was the sad state of mental health care in this area. There is a major shortage. I'm not saying you won't find one, just that I gave up trying to find one, and looked for other options beyond my insurance approved ones- namely, meditation, yoga, and support groups.
My KP intake counselor recommended I use psychology today's much-better search feature to find someone who takes magellan and has specialty in the area I needed. [ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists ] Do note that magellan will take it upon themselves to assign you to someone at random - so it is vital you pick someone, call them to ascertain if they will take you as a magellan patient (reimbursement rate is low so they may not be open to taking more magellan patients). If they say yes, you call Magellan and tell them you want X person and that you've confirmed they will take you, they then give you the authorization number to give to your provider at your first appointment. They bill Magellan, and then Magellan bills you for your Kaiser co-pay. Do this quickly or Magellan will assign you out before you can make your own choice. Very hard to 'un-do' that assignment once they do it for you!
Frankly I didn't end up liking the person I saw, and everyone recommended to me wouldn't take Magellan due to the low reimbursement rate. I ended up deciding it was worth the investment to pay out-of-pocket to see someone highly regarded. I hope you have better luck finding a fit. (In transparency I needed someone with experience in postpartum depression which is more niche and likely harder to find a good therapist generally, let alone one in a small network.)
I had the same FRUSTRATING experience. Then I found Nancy Ewing, Ph.D. in El Cerrito. She is in the Magellan network and she knew exactly how to get to the heart of my anxiety. Good luck! ❤️