This practice is happy to help clients who do not have insurance that I'm paneled with OR who decline to use their insurance. If the latter applies, I need to have this in writing that you decline to use your insurance.
To use out-of-network benefits, especially with its higher deductible, you pay the practice before the session, just as other clients do.
I will prepare a statement containing all necessary session information, CPT codes, and identifiers so that you can turn this into your insurance company to seek reimbursement, that would then come to you as the client since you have already paid the practice.
Insurance Networks Accepted
Insurances accepted at this time include: CIGNA, United Healthcare, Johns Hopkins Employee Health Plan (EHP), Carefirst or BCBS. In 2025, when licensed counselors could accept Medicare, I became credentialed in Medicare itself. Thus, if you have straight Medicare with supplemental coverage, I accept this. If you have a Medicare Advantage plan, best to check first.
I participate in a few employee assistance programs for presenting problems that are appropriate to the shorter, 45-minute sessions.
Clients are responsible to know their insurance benefits and communicate this detail to me. Very often you can save "outpatient mental health" benefits into a PDF from your insurance portal. Clients also must obtain authorizations.
Your policy statement, sent after you inquire, lists up-to-date, usual and customary fees.
If I accept your insurance plan, I accept the insurer's rate that’s contracted with my practice, lower than the quoted, private-pay rates. Insurance covers sessions you attend. Client's pay, full fee, late-cancelled or missed appointments.
It's imperative that you fill out the PDF forms completely. I've done this for 20+ years; if I ask the question, I the information, legibly, especially your demographics and insurance info.
If your claim is rejected due to name/auth mismatch or a wrong address or date of birth, you may be held responsible. Review forms to insure accuracy. The Agreement you sign is binding; a wet/ink signature is necessary. E-signatures are not accepted.
When & How Do I Submit Copays?
We're all accustomed to stopping at the front desk to pay for medical services. Counseling is no different.
Clients pay their member portion one day ahead or early the morning of an appointment. We can't thank you enough for following this helpful policy!!!
This practice accepts Zelle and PayPal. With PayPal, professional services often mean fees are removed and your payment will not be a complete one; choose another option, please. This avoids your clinician emailing or calling for the remaining portion. Indeed, the practice receives a 1099 for tax purposes, either way. It saves admin time, so...thank you for making billing easier.
Payment Options
This practice accepts contactless payment methods that went into play during the global pandemic. These include PayPal, Mastercard, VISA, Discover or Zelle.
Clients are asked to furnish credit card information with their paperwork, as a backup payment method to keep an account current. This is rarely used, but could be for missed sessions or third-party contact necessary to clinically coordinate your case, with physicians and insurance care managers, for instance. This use is often found in insurance contracts and providers must comply per their contracts as well.
Payment is due the day before or the same morning of your scheduled appointment.
The vast majority of clients are immensely respectful of a therapist's limited time, and of their scheduled appointments.
Sadly in nearly 20+ years of practice, these policies have been instituted out of need, and they are communicated in greater detail, as a result, on your Informed Consent and the forms you sign when entering into a therapy Agreement.
Late Cancel or Missed Appointments
CANCELLATION POLICY is 48 hours in advance of your appointment OR FRIDAY in advance of a Monday appointment. You will not receive a reminder. So take care writing this down to remind yourself of this obligation.
Should you miss or cancel a session within this 48-hour window, it cannot be billed to your insurance company; thus, you'll be responsible for full-fee charges (not your copay, but full fee).
True emergencies mean a death in immediate family, documented ER or hospital visit, or serious illness. Sports practice, games, work, sitter snafus are not exempt. Immediate family = spouse or domestic partner, a child, or a parent.
Add therapist to your contacts because she'll contact you if you are not signed into the telehealth platform. If you have a couples or family session, and one has a schedule conflict, the other person showing up for a one-on-one (which often is helpful) spares that late-cancel fee. Thank you for heeding the policies spelled out in your Informed Consent.
What Insurance Does NOT Cover
Your insurance/EAP will not cover missed sessions. You'll have to pay ($170 for one hour or $95-100 for an EAP session, more if billed to your credit card). See above for detail.
Out-of-session time necessary for proper case coordination with physicians, school counselors, other treating providers, attorneys and anyone else is billed at my hourly rate, pro-rated.
Should a client require inpatient treatment, partial hospitalization or substance abuse treatment, there will most always be outside consult necessary for discharge or treatment planning. Effort is made to keep time as minimal as possible for financial reasons.
Outside of quarterly or yearly statements, administrative fees may apply for paperwork/invoicing because payment is due at time of service. Therefore, once again, please know your benefits as this knowledge empowers you as the consumer.
Required Forms
You'll be sent PDF forms to fill out and return. This involves using a printer and a wet signature (real ink pen) for at least the Agreement/Informed Consent. Few people have a digitally stamped signature. We are looking into other alternatives. For now, legible, hand-written answers are needed.
You'll be given a secure HIPAA-compliant fax number to return your paperwork to. You can also use a password-protected PDF, which is easy to configure using a Mac computer and some others. Send the passcode in a separate communication to your therapist, please. These are the most secure means of sending back your required paperwork.
Under the Public Health Service Act (No Surprises Act), providers and healthcare facilities are required to provide a Good Faith Estimate of expected charges for items and services.
This Act aims to prevent “surprise billing” for health services for individuals who are not enrolled in a plan or coverage or a Federal health care plan, are receiving services from an out-of-network provider at an in-network facility, or not seeking to file a claim with their plan or coverage.
This practice's policies and fees are disclosed on your Informed Consent (Agreement) and some also here on this website. Clients benefit by understanding their benefits/insurance if they use it to defray their mental health care. Since every plan is different, the practice asks clients to be as transparent as possible, in turn, communicating those details.