Fees, Payment, and Health Insurance

Fees:  My fee is $120 per 50 minute clinical hour, and is pro-rated for any additional time beyond that.  For example, a 90-minute session would be billed at $160.  I rarely schedule sessions of less than 1 hour, and I only run longer than that with your explicit permission.

The intake phone call for a new client is free of charge.  The first 10 minutes of any phone call for established clients is also free of charge; calls lasting longer than that are billed at the $120/hour rate. 

I require 24-hour notice of appointment cancellation or rescheduling; if less than 24-hour notice is given, or if you fail to attend a scheduled appointment, full fee will be charged, payable at the next session.  Please note that no insurance company reimburses for missed appointments.

Payment:  I request payment by cash or check at the beginning of each session, as I do not regularly send bills.  I will be happy to provide you with a receipt at the time of payment.

Insurance:  Many clients ask about using health insurance to pay for their treatment, and wonder why I am not currently and do not plan to become a member of any insurance panels.  Here is my reasoning, briefly; I will be happy to discuss it further with you at any time.

A  In order to receive reimbursement, I need to diagnose you with a mental illness.  Many clients, for obvious reasons, do not want a mental illness diagnosis on their health records.  Couple therapy and grief therapy, two of the primary reasons people come to counseling, are not reimbursable.

A  Insurance companies require me to submit treatment plans and progress updates frequently, often every 4-6 sessions.  This is usually done over the phone, and confidential, personal and clinical information is usually requested.  I have absolutely no idea who is on the other end of those phone calls, what their qualifications are, or if they abide by a code of ethics which holds client confidentiality sacrosanct, as I do.  In addition, that information goes into the insurance companies’ database, and is theoretically available to anyone with the appropriate passwords. Therefore, my clients’ clinical information is potentially unprotected.  This makes me very uncomfortable. 

A  If my treatment plans and your progress are deemed acceptable, the insurance company will authorize a few more visits within a certain time-frame, after which I have to go through the entire process again.

A  Insurance companies rarely if ever reimburse therapists’ full fee, and often reimburse at a ridiculously low rate.  It therefore becomes difficult for me to pay bills or realize a profit.  Imagine being asked to work on important projects for significantly less than your actual salary.

A  yFinally, companies are often very late in paying benefits, sometimes holding payment for several months.  That would be like your employer holding your paycheck for weeks or months.  How would you pay your bills?

I hope this helps you understand why I’m not a member of any insurance panels.  Here is your option regarding insurance payment, if you are still interested in pursuing this.  Many plans have out-of-network benefits, and I will be happy to help you file claims using those, if you have them.  Keep in mind that I will still have to give you a mental disorder diagnosis, which will still be part of your permanent health record.  You will still pay me directly and will then be reimbursed for the claims by your insurance carrier.  Out-of-network benefits are frequently less generous, but they also usually do not require the level of insurance company oversight that using one of their member providers does.

Please feel free to discuss this information with me at any time during your treatment.