Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York
Therapist/Client Confideniality and Insurance Fraud
This therapist was court ordered for my children for a year as I was granted sole custody in Dec. 2004. I have 2 issues here that I have found to be extremely unethical and Fraud. I have recently reported this CSW DSW to my Insurance Companies Fraud Dept. This therapist was seeing both my daughters together for a total of 45 minutes, however charging the Insurance Co. as if my daughters where being seen seperatly. He has also stated in front of my wife,that ''he always cheats the Insurance Companies''. My children are not benefiting from this sort of therapy, they are being denied the time allowed for each of them. At this time, this issue is under investigation. The next issue I had with this certain individual, on April 22, 2005,my wife and myself took my daughters to see this Therapist as my wife had never met him and I had only visited with him once or twice before with my children. After he had spoken with my daughters for apprx. 40 minutes total, he then came into the waiting room where my wife and I were sitting. We spoke briefly as he was rushing us out as he had another patient waiting outside the door. Both I and my wife spoke what we thought was in confidence to this person
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Therapist/Client Confideniality and Insurance Fraud
If you believe that a medical service provider has inproperly or inaccurately reported services to your insurer, you have done the right thing by reporting it to your insurer. Ultimately, excessive charges to your insurer result in higher policy premiums to you or your employer. Either way, you pay the cost and it is appropriate for you to object to overcharges that come to your attention. Your insurer has means of investigating fraud and recovering anything that has been overpaid. I'm sure that they would appreciate your continuing cooperation, but you don't need to do anything further in that regard unless they ask.
As to your feelings about the services of the therapist, you should consult with the attorney who has been handling your matter. Unless something in the case has totally alienated you to the court, a judge could probably be persuaded to make a change. Remember thought that a judge will want you to propose a solution, not merely a problem. The judge will feel an obligation to act in the best interest of your children. Something in the past convinced him/her that counselling for your children is appropriate. If you want to push to have the councellor changed, you should be prepared to suggest an alternative and be willing to live with that. Otherwise, the answer will probably be "no."
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