Fees and Payments
QUESTION: “Can I use my insurance?”
Although I no longer participate as an “in-network” provider, you may be able to file receipts that I give you for some reimbursement. Contact your insurance company at the 800 number on the back of your insurance card for this information.
FEES: (Payable by cash, check, Visa or MasterCard)
Reserving a time to meet with me means that the time is exclusively yours and becomes unavailable to others. UNLESS YOU GIVE 24 HOURS NOTICE OF CANCELLATION, YOU ARE CHARGED FOR THE APPOINTMENT WHETHER YOU COME OR NOT (similar to a hotel reservation). Because of this, you will be asked for credit card information when you schedule your appointment.
INTAKE: $150.00, includes:
Testing for depression and anxiety
55 minute session
Report to your physician (if you wish)
FULL Session: $125.00, 50 minutes
Ten Reasons I No Longer Accept Insurance
1) You are often rated or denied coverage when applying for life insurance if you have counseling on your record. I worked in a brokerage firm and watched this happen. I worked on records retrieval for a man who saw a therapist because he had a phobia about signing his name; he got rated a high risk. The therapist’s notes were passed around the office.
2) You are rated or denied coverage when applying for health insurance. It’s true that if you are in a corporate pool, they have to take you, but if you ever lose coverage or have to apply as an individual, it could cost you your insurability or make your premiums extremely high.
3) Insurance companies are dictating care. They often told me what treatment they required, even though they have never met the patient or been present for a session. At one point I was asked by a clerk why the patient left her husband.
4) Insurance companies often share information with employers under the guise of HR helping “manage” medical benefit use. I was told by one executive who saw me out of pocket that the EAP service is the worst for this.
5) I had employers calling me wanting to know “exactly how disabled” the insured person was.
6) I was told by another executive at a major local employer that any employee found to be going to counseling was on an unofficial no-promotion-to-management list. This is a classic misunderstanding by society and a label you are wise to avoid. Counseling should be PRIVATE and CONFIDENTIAL.
7) An insurance company has the right to see your therapist’s case notes at any time. These are passed around the insurance company and as many as seven people could be reading and processing these notes; intimate details of your life.
8) “Used Counseling Benefits” becomes part of your permanent medical records.
9) Case notes, if requested by insurance, become part of your permanent medical records.
10) In order to qualify for insurance use for counseling, most companies require that you be diagnosed with SMI (Severe Mental Illness). So the code on your record may not reflect your actual condition. In other words, you have to be diagnosed “sick enough” to use benefits.
QUESTION: “Can I use my insurance?”
Although I no longer participate as an “in-network” provider, you may be able to file receipts that I give you for some reimbursement. Contact your insurance company at the 800 number on the back of your insurance card for this information.
FEES: (Payable by cash, check, Visa or Mastercard)
Reserving a time to meet with me means that the time is exclusively yours and becomes unavailable to others. UNLESS YOU GIVE 24 HOURS NOTICE OF CANCELLATION, YOU ARE CHARGED FOR THE APPOINTMENT WHETHER YOU COME OR NOT (similar to a hotel reservation). Because of this, you will be asked for credit card information when you schedule your appointment.
INTAKE: $125.00, includes:
Testing for depression and anxiety
55 minute session
Report to your physician (if you wish)
FULL Session: $115.00, 55 minute session
SHORT Session: $60.00, 30 minute session
GROUP Session (see Group Topics): $30.00 per session (Intake Interview Required)
