Financial Investment
Mental health treatment, like other ways in which you care for yourself, is an investment in your well-being. My self-pay rate for the initial appointment (90791) is $250, as I often spend significantly more time on this appointment. Follow-up appointments are $200/55 minute session. Trauma-focused therapies, including Cognitive Processing Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization Therapy, often require 90 minute sessions and would be billed at $250.
Many mental health providers don't accept insurance for various reasons, including the poor reimbursement rates for our level of expertise, the paperwork involved in claims submission, the possibility of clawbacks (in which insurance companies audit providers and decide not to pay them for services already rendered generally because of a documentation technicality), as well as concerns about clients' confidentiality. This is an area in which there is always a tension between caring for myself and making services accessible for others. For these reasons, I currently accept Aetna and United Health commercial insurance plans (not including Medicare or Medicaid plans, even if they are through Aetna or United). If I don't accept your insurance plan, I am happy to provide a bill (called a superbill) for you to submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement. In this case, you would pay me directly for services, submit a superbill to your insurance, and then be reimbursed by your insurance company for a portion of the total cost. Some insurance plans will reimburse for out-of-network providers, whereas others will not. It is also possible that while insurance companies don't generally reimburse for out-of-network providers, they will make exceptions in extenuating circumstances (for instance, if your provider is the only faith-based psychologist, trauma specialist, or perinatal mental health care provider in your area). I highly recommend that you contact your insurance company for your specific insurance coverage prior to scheduling your first appointment. The CPT codes you would need to provide them with would be 90791 (initial appointments), 90837 (standard 55 minute session), and 90834 (abbreviated 45 minute session).
I hope this information has been helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to call the office.