Payment, Fees, and Cancellation Policy
My fee is currently $140 for a fifty-minute session. I ask clients to pay at the end of each session. I currently accept check, cash, or credit cards for payment.
If my services are required for court testimony or legal depositions my fee for the first hour of service is $400 and $200 for every hour after the first hour. I do not charge for travel time unless more than thirty minutes is required for me to travel to the designated location.
I ask clients to respect my cancellation policy, which is, you can cancel an appointment twenty-four hours or more in advance of the appointment with no charge. If you cancel an appointment with less than twenty-four hours notice or if you just do not come to an appointment I charge a full fee. I’d be happy to discuss this policy further with you if you have questions about it.
Insurance
I am not a provider for any managed care company. I do this intentionally. One of my biggest concerns is that in order for insurance companies to reimburse for my services I have to give a diagnosis of a mental illness. Once you use your insurance for a mental health diagnosis or even physical health for that matter, then that information is sent to a national data-base to which other insurance companies have access. Once that information is stored in the data-base, it’s my opinion, that you have abandoned all hope of confidentiality. I find that managed care companies are not really concerned about the client and they require contracts whose terms I am unwilling to accept. I think managed care is about limiting what the client needs in order to improve their bottom line. Managed care companies want to dictate to me how to do therapy and how long a client should be in therapy. I believe that those decisions are best made between me and my client.
I know that not being a provider limits the number of people that can afford to see me. It is a difficult part of our nation's approach to healthcare as a whole. It is my belief that because of my seeing a more limited number of clients than do in network providers I give better service and provide better access to my clients.
As an out-of-network provider, I provide a statement at the beginning of every month that covers the preceding month for clients who have insurance that will reimburse for my services (and there are quite a few that have out-of-network benefits).
My fee is currently $140 for a fifty-minute session. I ask clients to pay at the end of each session. I currently accept check, cash, or credit cards for payment.
If my services are required for court testimony or legal depositions my fee for the first hour of service is $400 and $200 for every hour after the first hour. I do not charge for travel time unless more than thirty minutes is required for me to travel to the designated location.
I ask clients to respect my cancellation policy, which is, you can cancel an appointment twenty-four hours or more in advance of the appointment with no charge. If you cancel an appointment with less than twenty-four hours notice or if you just do not come to an appointment I charge a full fee. I’d be happy to discuss this policy further with you if you have questions about it.
Insurance
I am not a provider for any managed care company. I do this intentionally. One of my biggest concerns is that in order for insurance companies to reimburse for my services I have to give a diagnosis of a mental illness. Once you use your insurance for a mental health diagnosis or even physical health for that matter, then that information is sent to a national data-base to which other insurance companies have access. Once that information is stored in the data-base, it’s my opinion, that you have abandoned all hope of confidentiality. I find that managed care companies are not really concerned about the client and they require contracts whose terms I am unwilling to accept. I think managed care is about limiting what the client needs in order to improve their bottom line. Managed care companies want to dictate to me how to do therapy and how long a client should be in therapy. I believe that those decisions are best made between me and my client.
I know that not being a provider limits the number of people that can afford to see me. It is a difficult part of our nation's approach to healthcare as a whole. It is my belief that because of my seeing a more limited number of clients than do in network providers I give better service and provide better access to my clients.
As an out-of-network provider, I provide a statement at the beginning of every month that covers the preceding month for clients who have insurance that will reimburse for my services (and there are quite a few that have out-of-network benefits).