ABSTRACT
There is one primary rationale that M.C.O.s have used to justify asking preferred providers to lower their fees for clients referred through the M.C.O. It is that providers will save P.R. costs since the M.C.O. will provide a stream of referrals to the therapists. Sometimes that occurs, but it is rarely automatic. In most cases, therapists need to exert a substantial referral development effort after they are accepted on the preferred provider network.
