Becky, and all others who are curious about this issue of publicly discussing
LC salaries. There are two issues here. First and foremost is a concern about
doing anything that might be construed as price fixing. I have formally
requested ILCA Board of Directors to get legal opinions about this.

Secondly, as a group of practitioners, LCs do not charge enough for their
services. If we publicly discuss this, the third party payers (insurance
companies) can constue what is published as "usual and Customary Fees". If
what we publish is construed in this manner, and we are underpricing our
services, and insurers decide to pay us what is "Usual and Customary", then
we've screwed ourselves!

Was that followable?

I have deep concerns about what LCs charge. We are therapists and need to
earn what other health therapists earn (like LMTs, PTs and OTs) I'd use
dietitians as an example but they are in the same boat we are. And we need to
cover our costs.

There are still LCs out there who charge less than $10 per hour. I, for one,
am not going to work as an LC for that pitiful amount of money. We have a
right to make a living. If we do not get our act togethr as a profession and
as individual practitioners, we won't have a viable profession for very long.
Now, I do not mean to ignore the service part of our jobs, but as a group and
as individuals we must get more business saavy.

Let's see what the legalities are of posting this kind of information, give
careful consideration to the "usual and Customary Fee issue" and all read up
on how to price services at a reasonable and appropriate level. If you need
help with the pricing issue, call me. I have been suggesting and have used a
method which works great and is easy to do.

Incidentally, most US communities have a Small Business Administration which
offers free or low cost seminars on how to put a business together. Most
libraries have a gazillion books on business. Ladies and Gents, go for it.

Whew! That's a big soapbox but a very important one!

Alison
ILCA Third Party Task Force Chair