Our desire is to provide quality services to anyone who seeks counseling. The cost of a counseling session should not deter you from seeking the support and help you need. Please refer to the list of fees each clinician charges located in their individual biography. If you are insured, your insurance plan may cover a portion of the cost. Please see the section below regarding insurance as a form of payment. We require all fees to be paid at the end of each session.
Session Fee Information
Individual Counseling & Family / Group Therapy Sessions
Important Information Regarding Insurance
Pros and Cons to Using Insurance for Mental Health
I encourage you to call your insurance company to inquire about your specific benefits regarding mental health so you can make an informed decision on what is best for you and your family. If you still want to use your insurance, I can provide you with a Super Bill at the end of each session with the date of service, type of service and diagnosis code for you to file with your insurance to seek reimbursement for costs.
I am currently an out-of-network provider for all insurance companies except for Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). There are pros and cons to using insurance for mental health. For your convenience, I have listed some below.
PROS
- Insurance can significantly lower out-of-pocket costs.
- A portion or the entire part of your out-of-pocket costs may be applied towards your overall deductible, depending on your insurance plan.
CONS
- Insurance companies only pay for services that are considered medically necessary. You must be given a diagnosis and many of life stressors such as “I am just having a hard time” are not diagnosable.
- Lack of confidentiality. At any given time, an insurance company can audit your records which means they have full access to the details you have shared with your therapist
- Insurance companies are in control of treatment. They decide how many sessions you need for particular issues. Life stressors are not predictable and neither is your response to therapeutic treatment.
- Any documented mental health treatment filed through your insurance will go into your permanent medical record. With ever-changing insurance rules, this may or may not have an impact on your ability to secure health coverage in the future.
Cancellation policy
24+ Hour Notice Required
There is a 24 hour notice cancellation policy. If you do not provide 24 hours notice or if you provide less than 24 hours notice, your card on file will be charged $85.00 for the missed session.
Future sessions will not be scheduled until payment has been received. You have to contact your therapist directly to cancel/reschedule appointments. We will respond to confirm we received your message.
Against Surprise Medical Bills
Rights and Protections
When you get emergency care or get treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, you are protected from surprise billing or balance billing.
What is “balance billing” (sometimes called “surprise billing”)?
When you see a doctor or other health care provider, you may owe certain out-of-pocket costs, such as a copayment, coinsurance, and/or a deductible. You may have other costs or have to pay the entire bill if you see a provider or visit a health care facility that isn’t in your health plan’s network.
“Out-of-network” describes providers and facilities that haven’t signed a contract with your health plan. Out-of-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what your plan agreed to pay and the full amount charged for a service. This is called “balance billing.” This amount is likely more than in-network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual out-of-pocket limit.
“Surprise billing” is an unexpected balance bill. This can happen when you can’t control who is involved in your care - like when you have an emergency or when you schedule a visit at an in-network facility but are unexpectedly treated by an out-of-network provider.
You are protected from balance billing for:
Emergency Services
If you have an emergency medical condition and get emergency services from an out-of-network provider or facility, the most the provider or facility may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount (such as copayments and coinsurance). You can’t be balance billed for these emergency services. This includes services you may get after you’re in stable condition unless you give written consent and give up your protections not to be balanced billed for these post-stabilization services.
Certain services at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center
When you get services from an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, certain providers there may be out-of-network. In these cases, the most those providers may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount. This applies to emergency medicine, anesthesia, pathology, radiology, laboratory, neonatology, assistant surgeon, hospitalist, or intensivist services. These providers can’t balance bill you and may not ask you to give up your protections to not to be balance billed.
If you get other services at these in-network facilities, out-of-network providers can’t balance bill you unless you give written consent and give up your protections.
You’re never required to give up your protection from balance billing. You also aren’t required to get care out-of-network. You can choose a provider or facility in your plan’s network.
When balance billing isn’t allowed, you also have the following protections:
- You are only responsible for paying your share of the cost (like the copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles that you would pay if the provider or facility was in-network). Your health plan will pay out-of-network providers and facilities directly.
- Your health plan generally must:
- Cover emergency services without requiring you to get approval for services in advance (prior authorization).
- Cover emergency services by out-of-network providers.
- Base what you owe the provider or facility (cost-sharing) on what it would pay an in-network provider or facility and show that amount in your explanation of benefits.
- Count any amount you pay for emergency services or out-of-network services toward your deductible and out-of-pocket limit.
If you believe you’ve been wrongly billed, you may contact:
www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call 800-985-3059
Visit https://www.cms.gov/files/document/model-disclosure-notice-patient-protections-against-surprise-billing-providers-facilities-health.pdf for more information about your rights under Federal law.
Visit www.tdi.texas.gov for more information about your rights under Texas State Law.