Insurance billing is weird and confusing.
I don’t think that’s up for debate, right? So let’s make it a little easier.
If you’re using insurance to pay for therapy, you may receive two different types of documents – and they may have two different costs on them.
The Invoice
The invoice is like any other billing invoice you’ve ever received, and the amount listed as your total will be your out of pocket expense. You will pay the amount listed on the invoice at the time of your session (or in line with whatever your therapist’s policy is. Ours is at the time of service!).
The Superbill
The superbill shows the TOTAL cost for therapy – this cost is typically spread between you and your insurance company. You will not necessarily owe the amount listed on your superbill.
For example, private pay sessions are typically $135 for 50 minutes here at Open View.
But, when we contract with an insurance company, we are required to only charge clients the contracted insurance rate for that insurance company. For example, $75.
Depending on your insurance coverage, you will either pay $75 out of pocket for the session, and have it count against your deductible, or pay some kind of copay (say, $20, that may or may not count toward your deductible, depending on your plan).
Thus, your superbill will list “$135” as the total charges, but you will only owe up to $75 for the session (which will be reflected on your invoice). The difference between $135 and $75 gets written off.
Questions? Ask us!