Letter to Therapists in Private Practice: Why I Decided to Accept Medicaid

An exciting announcement from Founder and CEO, Josh Hetherington, LMFT 

CCRC is Now in Network with CountyCare

We’re pleased to announce that Chicago Center for Relationship is finally a member of CountyCare offering medicaid services in Illinois. 

It has long been a goal of mine to be a provider who accepts Medicaid. As I took on the process of moving toward this goal, I was able to confront some internalized stigmas and external misconceptions about Medicaid and our entire healthcare system.

I had thought for a long time, based on what I’d heard informally from other therapists, that Medicaid didn’t pay as well as private insurance. And, that accepting this insurance would mean that I would be working with people who were struggling with mental health challenges I wouldn’t be able to treat. And, the paperwork would be overwhelming. These three mistaken pieces of information kept me from doing any research into joining it for many years. 

Facing My Misconceptions

In my work with the Phoenix Clinic, I became more involved with the Cook County Behavioral Health Workforce Center. This organization works to coordinate the efforts of behavioral health providers across the state. Many of these providers are in-network with Medicaid. In my conversations with colleagues at networking events it became clear that Medicaid was actually paying private practice therapists well!

These conversations, along with the generous conversations with peers and friends who have had to use Medicaid coverage at different times in life, let me confront my other bias: Medicaid is only for people on disability and I would not have the training or experience to effectively work with them. Wrong! Many individuals, couples, and families have made use of Medicaid at different times in their life including being underinsured through their workplace or being fully unemployed. Although Medicaid does also cover people who are chronically disabled due to medical or mental health issues this alone does not indicate whether I would be able to treat them. My training and experience as an LMFT can be helpful to people who are on Medicaid regardless of the reason. We LMFTs may not have all of the specialized skills or training that a chronically disabled person may require for every aspect of their treatment, but I feel well prepared to help with relational treatment and support around many of the issues that someone with a chronic disability may experience. I realized my work as an LMFT can be a valuable part of any collaborative healthcare team.

In 2023 CCRC had a large claw-back audit from UHC. This expensive experience led to an overhaul of CCRC’s documentation processes. I did not want to have money taken back from our hard work ever again, so the team put considerable time and effort into understanding exactly what the guidelines for private insurance were. Guess what? The private insurance companies all take their lead from Medicaid and Medicare! So, the paperwork requirements are almost identical. There is one exception: the IM-CANS. This is a strengths-based assessment tool that is required by IL Medicaid. It is an interesting tool that requires training to use but its focus on strengths rather than deficits is refreshing. 

Now accepting CountyCare Medicaid at our Ravenswood, Chicago location.

Becoming a Medicaid Provider in Illinois

Becoming a Behavioral Health Clinic (Medicaid provider) was quite a process. It has taken CCRC over a year to go from application to site visit, to acceptance to acceptance by the Manage Care Organizations (MCO) that accept the claims for service and pay us. But the day has arrived and as of February 1, 2026 CCRC is now in-Network with County Care Medicaid Managed Care Plan (“CountyCare”).

Our in-network therapists will be able to see clients with this coverage for individual, couple, and family therapy in person and by telehealth. Care coordination will happen with a variety of specialists, doctors and other organizations to provide effective treatment for complex issues. CCRC is very excited to take this next step and help Chicago folks in our Ravenswood office for in-person sessions and telehealth for anyone across IL who is covered by CountyCare.