Payment

Paying for Therapy: Insurance, Out of Network, Cash

What does the cost of therapy include? You’re not just paying for 53 to 60 minutes of therapy. I work outside our scheduled appointment to plan, research, and design your course of treatment.

A typical course of treatment is about 6 to 12 months (12 to 24 sessions). It could be less or more. Could be over a year, depending on what yo need to work on. That’s something we discuss collaboratively.

Therapy is a short term commitment and investment in your overall mental health, ability to function and succeed in your life. A little time and money invested in therapy today can help you for the rest of your life.

Quick example for if I do not accept your insurance and you’re paying cash, here’s an example of your options (keep in mind, rates are negotiable) -

  1. Come weekly at $140 per session - $560 per month.

  2. Come every-other-week at $140 per session - $280 per month.

    These are estimates and may differ from your actual cost.

I will provide you with “superbills” monthly, which you send to your insurance company. If you have out of network benefits, you may get a percentage back. You should check with your insurance on whether you have OON and, if you do, how much do they reimburse you.

Some info about insurance and mental health:

The average rate for an hour of therapy provided by a licensed clinical psychotherapist in the United States is $150. How many insurance companies match this rate? None. Zero. Not one of them.

In fact, most pay a much lower rate. The lowest rates being those of Cigna, Husky, and Anthem, which is why I’m not in network with these insurance companies.

Why tell you all this? Imagine your employer told you that there was no cost of living increase for years and years. Would you be okay with that? Making the same income for years and years while costs increase. That is what it’s like to take insurance as a provider. 

Mental health providers are some of the most underpaid Healthcare workers in our nation and insurance reimbursement rates have not increased to match those of other healthcare specialties.

The link floating to the right is for Reimbursify, which is a service to help people paying for therapy out of pocket, to see if you are eligible receive some money from out of network benefits in your plan. There is a fee involved, so read carefully. I can set you up to receive superbills from Simple Practice monthly and you can submit them through Reimbursify.

Let me first say that everything is negotiable.

I do take some insurance, but mostly I am a cash for service therapist. I say mostly because I am not in network with Anthem BC/BS and most people in CT have an Anthem health insurance policy. 

I know that one size does not fit all. My rate is $150 for 55 minutes of therapy, which includes a lot of other work behind the scenes. 

This rate is negotiable depending upon your situation.

Information on insurance, payments, and cost of therapy:

If I don’t take your insurance, don’t worry. You may have out of network benefits! Read on to find out more about that.

I currently take Optum (Connecticare, United Health or United Behavioral Health, Oxford, etc…) and Aetna.

For people who have an insurance I am not in-network with (Cigna, Anthem), payment is simple. You pay our agreed upon rate out of pocket and I submit claims direct to your insurance. They will reimburse you whatever their out of network rate might be.

If you’d rather submit claims yourself, I can supply you with “superbills” for that purpose.

I do not take any form of medicaid or medicare, therefore if you have medicaid or medicare I’m not able to serve you at this time.