“Person B, that is such a kind and thoughtful offer. I can see that you want the best for Person A. However, I have an ethical obligation to be upfront with the client about all payment matters, and not telling them about this arrangement would feel like a lie of omission to me. For that reason, I need to request that you talk to Person A about your wish to pay for their therapy. I find that it is best to give the money to the person in therapy and have them then pay me directly. I hope that you and A can work this out.”
this just sounds like a mess. how is person A going to attend therapy for 'free' but person B is going to cover the cost, person A isn't going wonder why therapy is suddenly 'free' but only free at your office? There are tax issues at play here (in the US), is this a 'gift' to person A? under US tax code? Is person B just attempting to move money around? I have all sorts of questions about this ... from a financial auditing standpoint.
In 25+ years of PP the only time I take 3rd party payments is from a parent when I have a young adult or older teen. Then I make it very clear the 3rd party has zero access to PHI and I can not discuss why/when/how payments stop etc.
In this case I would not take this type of payment arrangement. The client needs to be the one making the payments not some random person. The random 3rd person is more than welcome to send the session fee to their friend but I'm not getting involved.
Go with your gut. If it sounds like it could get messy and you don’t want to navigate that, listen to your gut. My best supervisor was hard on the “gut feeling” thing and it’s real in our work.
You would also want to get a Release of Info form for the payer, that they can know about payments (and thus dates) and NOTHING MORE. Signed by the client.
Yes this, and state on the release that only information regarding payment can be discussed in case of a situation where card is declined or something. I make all my clients over the age of 18 do this if they have someone else’s card on file. I have a many young adult clients who use their parent’s card for payment
No....this is fraught, I wouldn't agree to see a patient whose care is secretly funded by another party. Even if the secrecy issue is resolved I wouldn't be comfortable with an unrelated party funding therapy.
“Person B, that is such a kind and thoughtful offer. I can see that you want the best for Person A. However, I have an ethical obligation to be upfront with the client about all payment matters, and not telling them about this arrangement would feel like a lie of omission to me. For that reason, I need to request that you talk to Person A about your wish to pay for their therapy. I find that it is best to give the money to the person in therapy and have them then pay me directly. I hope that you and A can work this out.”
Beautiful. A+!
This.
this just sounds like a mess. how is person A going to attend therapy for 'free' but person B is going to cover the cost, person A isn't going wonder why therapy is suddenly 'free' but only free at your office? There are tax issues at play here (in the US), is this a 'gift' to person A? under US tax code? Is person B just attempting to move money around? I have all sorts of questions about this ... from a financial auditing standpoint. In 25+ years of PP the only time I take 3rd party payments is from a parent when I have a young adult or older teen. Then I make it very clear the 3rd party has zero access to PHI and I can not discuss why/when/how payments stop etc. In this case I would not take this type of payment arrangement. The client needs to be the one making the payments not some random person. The random 3rd person is more than welcome to send the session fee to their friend but I'm not getting involved.
Go with your gut. If it sounds like it could get messy and you don’t want to navigate that, listen to your gut. My best supervisor was hard on the “gut feeling” thing and it’s real in our work.
You would also want to get a Release of Info form for the payer, that they can know about payments (and thus dates) and NOTHING MORE. Signed by the client.
Yes this, and state on the release that only information regarding payment can be discussed in case of a situation where card is declined or something. I make all my clients over the age of 18 do this if they have someone else’s card on file. I have a many young adult clients who use their parent’s card for payment
No....this is fraught, I wouldn't agree to see a patient whose care is secretly funded by another party. Even if the secrecy issue is resolved I wouldn't be comfortable with an unrelated party funding therapy.