Private Pay Counseling
Private pay counseling means paying out of pocket for therapy or counseling services rather than using your insurance. While paying for therapy with insurance can be convenient and help with cost, some clients choose to use private pay to access treatment for a variety of reasons.
Cost
Private pay therapy sessions are not submitted to insurance, and the client is responsible for 100% of the cost.
Sessions are $145 for 50-55 minutes.
Sometimes, clients prefer to have longer or shorter sessions depending on the work we are doing together.
30 minutes: $95
75 minutes: $185
Why Use Private Pay for Therapy or Counseling?
Many clients prefer to use private pay for these reasons:
- Easier logistics and processing – no insurance claims are involved, so fewer headaches going back and forth with your insurance regarding coverage.
- While Colorado requires that all insurance plans cover mental health to some degree, some plans may limit the number of sessions covered, or you must meet your deductible before coverage. Thus, some clients prefer to take the easier way and just pay themselves.
- The breadth of treatment can be limited by insurance, who are not willing to pay for goals such as self-development or getting to know yourself. When clients want to work on these goals, they need to use private pay.
- Insurance companies require a legitimate diagnosis for mental health coverage. Some clients prefer to not have a formal diagnosis and thus choose to leave insurance out of the picture.
- With sensitive issues, clients may not want to share details of treatment with their insurance provider. Occasionally, insurance companies will ask for notes, treatment plans, or other treatment summaries to check on what they are paying for. Providing these is required and is not a violation of HIPAA. If you would not be comfortable with your insurance provider viewing these materials, you should use private pay.
Helpful Information
You can pay with check, credit card, or cash. Even if you pay with check or cash, I require a credit card be kept on file for all clients.
If you do this, please let me know. If you are in-network, this is the same as using insurance for therapy and I need to abide by my provider contract with insurance.
If I am OUT of network with your insurance provider, I can provide you a superbill that you can submit to your insurance carrier for reimbursement. Please be aware that this still requires the same record keeping and potential record-sharing with your insurance provider as if you’re using in-network insurance.
Reimbursement is entirely dependent on your insurance carrier and your plan. Not all plans include out of network benefits, and not all insurance companies offer out of network benefits at all. You are responsible for contacting your insurance company and finding out what out of network benefits your plan offers. You are also responsible for paying the full session fee at the time of session, and submitting your superbill to your insurance company for reimbursement. Your insurance company will reimburse you directly.
Many insurance plans provide out of network coverage, with partial coverage of fees. Not all insurance plans provide this (for example, Kaiser will not) so check your individual plan for out of network mental health coverage.
If you are using insurance with which I’m out of network, I work with Mentaya, a platform that helps clients get money back on out-of-network therapy sessions. If you have out-of-network benefits, Mentaya will file claims and handle the insurance paperwork to make sure you get reimbursed. They charge a 5% fee per claim and have helped people get thousands of dollars back per year. YOU CAN SIGN UP USING THIS LINK.
Note: Mentaya’s goal is to save you time and money. It’s completely optional, and as your therapist I do not benefit in any way from your participation.
Start here.
Reach out to ask any questions, or schedule a free consultation.
