I advocate for clients to use their health insurance to cover costs. Counseling takes time, and paying out of pocket can lead clients to stop the process once the crisis is over, but before change has truly begun.

If you pay out of pocket, we do not need to have a diagnosis. If we use health insurance, they will require a diagnosis to pay. This diagnosis is not public record, and will not be shared with anyone (including doctors, lawyers, or children’s teachers) without your express written permission. Talk with me about the diagnosis code – there are many that express “having a hard time dealing with a hard situation.”

Contact your health insurance (call the number on your insurance card or visit the insurance website). I will do the billing, but you, the client, are in charge of confirming benefits. You pay the copay, coinsurance, and/or deductible.

The copay is a set amount (such as $25) you pay per visit.

A co-insurance is a percentage of the allowable amount, so sometimes it’s not clear until the session has been billed. For example, if the therapist charges $175 per hour, the insurance company may allow only $122 per session and have a 30% co-insurance. Therefore, the amount owed to the therapist would be $36.60.

            A deductible is a bulk amount that you have to pay before insurance will pay. This amount usually applies to all of your medical expenses, not just mental health. To check your deductible, you can call your insurance company and ask: Do I have a deductible for mental health benefits? How much of the deductible is already met?

If you have a deductible (for example, $500), you will have to pay the full fee to the therapist until the deductible is met. Make sure your therapist still bills it to your insurance, so it applies to the deductible. After that, you will pay just the copay/coinsurance.