PRIVATE PAY OR INSURANCE?

Why Private Pay Instead of Insurance?

Many people have insurance that includes mental health as a benefit. When you decide you would like to see a counselor, you will want to consider the benefits of utilizing your insurance versus paying privately for counseling.

When you utilize your insurance, it may cost less money as there is usually a small co-pay; however, there is important information that is not clear about the potential negatives. When a person uses insurance, they are giving up certain rights to their confidentiality. The insurance companies have a right to ask for your diagnoses, your counselor's notes describing the sessions, and they can also have conversations with your counselor for the purpose of continuing to authorize your sessions.

Another negative is that based on your diagnosis, you can, in the future, be denied certain insurance benefits because you, for example, have been diagnosed with depression, and then the insurance company may consider it a pre-existing condition. A pre-existing condition could also be problematic in the future when applying for other insurances, short-term disability, or reapplying for the same insurance.

The other potential negative is that the counseling can be time-limited, and your insurance company gets to determine what type of therapeutic approach that your counseler can use in the session. The type of counseling you prefer may not be covered by your insurance company at all, for example couples counseling or family counseling. You may have a set number of visits per year, and when that number of sessions has been met you may have to stop counseling or switch to paying out of pocket entirely for the benefit year.

The benefits of private pay is information shared by you in counseling is confidential, except in very rare circumstances where mandatory reporting is essential. This information will not be shared with your insurance company. There will be no worry that a diagnosis may come back to haunt you in the future. You can determine how long your counseling lasts and what type of counseling you would like to receive. It is also great when you can call your counselor down the road to resume work together without jumping through lots of paperwork and red tape. Many people cannot find a counselor who has time to meet with them who is in their network or do not have open appointments within a reasonable amount of time. Also, local mental health centers or insurance providers may have a clinician that is approved for your insurance, but their caseload is so high that it makes it challenging to provide the quality of care you deserve and expect.

Do you accept insurance?

No, I do not accept insurance. However, I feel that you will find my fee to be affordable. The money you will save on gas from not having to drive to a session and paying for parking because your sessions are online; not to mention what a co-pay might cost you makes my fee reasonable.

Fee

$75.00 per 60 minute session.

Payment for Services

Payment is due in full 30 minutes before the beginning of the session unless we make other arrangements.

Cancellation Policy

Late Policy

If you are more than 20 minutes late for your session, it is difficult for us to delve into the issues you want to address that week and reach any satisfying resolution. With that being said, it is your hour and your money to use as best you can. The session fee will stay the same, whatever time you login for your appointment. The session will end at the normal designated end time, even when you are late.

In cases of an unforeseen emergency with another counselee, I may occasionally be late for a session or have to reschedule your appointment. The rescheduled appointment is complimentary, also you will not be charged for a session that begins late due to any scheduling problem on my part which I believe is fair.

How Do I Make a Payment?

All payments are made via PayPal ONLY. As the global leader in online payments, PayPal offers their customers a secure, accessible, fast, easy (SAFE), and reliable environment for making online payments. When you pay with PayPal, your payment goes through instantly.