Fees and Insurance

Fees for treatment are an important issue. Specific plans and arrangements regarding fees, including questions regarding your health insurance will be discussed during the initial consultations. I am not an "in network" psychiatrist with insurance plans, but many of my patients are able to utilize their health insurance plan to cover a significant part of the cost of treatment.  Depending on the particular company and the plan you have, submission of statements to your insurance company may lead to very considerable reimbursement to you.   

If you have an "in-network ONLY" or HMO plan, you will most likely not be reimbursed for my services.  If that is the case, but you do wish to work with me, I am often able to work out a "fee for service" plan which is agreeable to both of us.  In fact, quite a few people who seek therapy choose to go outside of their insurance plan, fully planning to pay out-of-pocket once a fee is worked out for the treatment.     

A phone call to your insurance company can help determine the particular mental health coverage provided by your plan.  When you do contact your insurance health insurance company, ask the following questions:

• What are my mental health benefits?
• What are my "out-of-network" benefits? What is the "out-of-network" coverage amount per therapy session?
• Do I have an annual deductible and has it been met yet this year?
• Will my plan cover all my therapy sessions?  Is there an annual cap on the number of sessions I may use during the calendar year?
• Is there an annual cap on the amount of money available to me to help pay for sessions?
• Is there a lifetime cap on my mental health benefit?