Today, many clients prefer to pay for their counseling themselves, rather than use their health insurance and risk losing confidentiality. At the very least, filing insurance claims for mental health visits requires you to be given a diagnosis that may be stored in a data bank that is accessible to other insurers. At the worst, your insurance company may require me to provide a detailed treatment plan listing your symptoms and the broad content of sessions in order to reimburse for services.
 
If you decide to use health insurance, you will want to determine what your insurance benefits are before our first visit. You can do this by contacting your insurance company at the toll-free number listed on the back of your insurance card. You will want to ask the following questions:

• What are my mental health benefits?
• What is my deductible, and have I met it?
• How many sessions per calendar year does my plan cover?
• What are my benefits for in-network and out-of-network providers?

I am on the provider panel of Blue Cross Blue Shield and many other major insurance companies.  If you decide to use insurance, you will likely have mental health benefits for in-network and out-of-network providers.  I encourage you to find out what those benefits are even if I am not an in-network provider for your insurance company.  Oftentimes, the difference is not substantial. 

As a courtesy to my clients, I am happy to complete and file your insurance claims. I ask that you make your co-payment at the time of services, and that you pay for services in full until your deductible has been met.  If I am not a provder on your insurance panel, I will require payment from you upfront, but will file your insurance for you so that your insurance company will reimburse you for their part.