Insurance Issues

Services may be covered expenses under your medical insurance or health care spending account.

I am an Out-of-Network Provider; this means you pay me directly and I give you a receipt you can file for any reimbursement available under the terms of your policy. This receipt will probably have to include a legitimate, formal diagnosis of a mental health disorder in order to be considered for reimbursement.

I recommend that you confirm your coverage details before making an appointment, if seeking reimbursement is important to you. Plans vary greatly. Here are some questions to ask your plan's administrator:

Do I have mental health benefits?
What is my deductible and how much has been met?
What is the reimbursement rate for an out-of-network provider?
How many sessions per calendar year does my plan cover?
Is pre-approval or a referral required?
What else should I be aware of?

I offer fee-for-service appointments for a variety of reasons:

The focus is on getting you what you want instead of dealing with third-parties. I would rather focus my time and energy on directly helping you, rather than dealing with insurance companies to get paid.

We avoid the potential problem of treatment decisions being taken away from you and me. Insurance/managed care companies place limits on what they will cover to keep costs down. I believe my clients have the best judgment about what treatment length, frequency, and type will be most useful.

Insurance companies require a mental health disorder to be diagnosed in order for you to be eligible for coverage. These diagnoses are pathologizing and place negative labels on the person seeking consultation over an issue of everyday life. Working under this mindset can bring in an unhelpful influence.

Maximum privacy and confidentiality of your personal details is maintained. You won't find the information you share with me turning up in a database and putting you at risk for data/identity theft, difficulty obtaining health/life/disability insurance, or loss of employment

I look on my work as that of a consultant (or guide / mentor / coach) rather than a medical provider. I am uncomfortable with using the medical model of disease, dysfunction, deficit, and disorder on normal and common problems with living. I prefer to work from a positive, strength-based, and client-validating perspective.