Chapter 13
Professional Relationships, Private Practice, and Health Care Plans
Answer Key
1. All of the following statements are true EXCEPT:
a. employers cannot force employees to take actions that are illegal.
b. employees do not have to do anything they consider to be unethical.
c. when disputes arise between employer and employees, the law generally favors the
employer.
d. by accepting a job, an employee agrees to perform the tasks assigned.
e. counselors have a legal right to be free in the workplace of discrimination based on
race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age and disabilities.
2. Which of the following behaviors WOULD constitute insubordination?
a. refusing to carry out a directive of a psychiatrist who works for a different company.
b. refusing to carry out a directive of a police officer who is investigating a crime at
your place of work.
c. refusing to carry out a directive of your co-worker who has seniority.
d. refusing to carry out a directive of your immediate supervisor when that directive
does not violate any laws or company policies.
e. refusing to carry out a directive of a state inspector who is visiting your work site to
perform a legally required inspection.
3. If you believe your supervisor at your work setting is forcing you to act in what you
consider to be an unethical manner you SHOULD:
a. report your supervisor to the state licensure board.
b. report your supervisor to the American Counseling Association (ACA) Ethics
Committee.
c. resign your position immediately to avoid being held in violation of your professional
code of ethics.
d. hire an attorney who will attempt to force your employer to allow you to practice in
an ethical manner.
e. try to work with your supervisor to resolve the problem.
4. If a counselor were to purposefully make false oral statements that damaged the reputation
of another mental health professional, the counselor could be sued for:
a. slander.
b. libel.
c. malicious harm.
d. absolute privilege.
e. insubordination.
5. All of the following steps are suggested when counselors open private practices EXCEPT:
a. obtain a federal tax ID number if there are any employees.
b. apply for and obtain a business license.
c. purchase liability, property damage, or other types of insurance.
d. form a corporation, because it is the only way to protect your personal assets.
e. obtain a professional license if one is required in the state to practice counseling
independently.
6. The most structured form of collaboration between counselors and other health
professionals is:
a. coordination of services.
b. consultation.
c. teamwork.
d. medication monitoring.
e. conferring.
7. Problems with corporations include all of the following EXCEPT:
a. the personal assets of owners are at risk.
b. meetings have to be held periodically and annual reports have to be filed or the
corporation will cease to exist legally.
c. income is taxed to the corporation and is taxed again when it is distributed to owners.
d. accountants and lawyers must be retained on a continuous basis to ensure the
corporation is functioning properly.
e. corporations are very expensive to form initially.
8. A sliding scale in counseling refers to:
a. a chart that indicates the degree to which a client is functioning.
b. a system of rotation that determines when a counselor is “on call” for the weekend.
c. a fee structure based on the client’s family income and family size.
d. a fee structure based on the net worth of the individual.
e. the degree to which a counselor is willing to render a diagnosis to meet the
requirements of an insurance company or third-party payer.
9. In the event a counselor has a client with a large bill for services that is several months late,
the counselor SHOULD:
a. sue the client.
b. threaten the client with a law suit if payment is not made.
c. report the client to the state licensure board.
d. forget the bill and take steps in the future to prevent these bills from developing.
e. pay a bill collector to collect the money due.
10. According to the United State Small Business Administration, the percentages of business
that fail are:
a. over 5% fail in the first year, and 15% fail within the first 5 years.
b. over 50% fail in the first year, and 95% fail within the first 5 years.
c. over 10% fail in the first year, and 25% fail within the first 5 years.
d. over 95% fail in the first year, and 99% fail within the first 5 years.
e. over 15% fail in the first year, and 35% fail within the first 5 years.
11. Health care plans in the United States:
a. must, by federal law, include mental health services benefits.
b. are available to 99% of the population.
c. often are unavailable to the working poor.
d. provide health care, including mental health care, to all individuals who are not
covered by Medicaid.
e. are the best in the world and ensure that all Americans receive the health care they
need.
12. Freedom of choice legislation allows health care consumers to choose:
a. the insurance company they prefer.
b. the physician they prefer under their state authorized health care plans.
c. the hospital they prefer for health care treatment.
d. the state managed health care facility they prefer.
e. the type of health care provider they prefer under state authorized health care plans.
13. A Preferred Provider Organization (PPO):
a. must accept all counselors who apply to be added to their list of providers of health
care services.
b. must accept counselors as providers of mental health services.
c. may not accept counselors as providers of mental health services and can limit the
number of providers on their list of providers.
d. have to accept counselors as providers of mental health services if the counselors are
licensed by their state.
e. may not limit the number of providers on their list of providers.
14. When a counselor must render a DSM-5 diagnosis before a client may be reimbursed for
mental health care services, the counselor:
a. should avoid rendering a diagnosis that might stigmatize the client.
b. should always choose a diagnosis that is reimbursable by the health care organization.
c. must render a diagnosis that is consistent with the diagnoses that have been rendered
previously by other health care providers.
d. must render the proper diagnosis, whether or not the client will be reimbursed.
e. may choose one of the diagnoses that is reimbursable by the health care organization,
if necessary.
15. All of the following are fraudulent health care practices EXCEPT:
a. continuing to counsel a client at risk of harming themselves, free of charge, after his
or her health care benefits have run out.
b. providing family counseling services (which are not reimbursable) and reporting that
individual counseling services are being provided (which are reimbursable).
c. waiving the co-payment when a co-payment is required.
d. billing for a missed session and indicating the client attended the session because
missed sessions are not reimbursable.
e. reporting that an approved professional is providing direct services to a client when
the services actually are being provided by a counselor who is not approved.
Answer Key