Insurance/Costs
Insurance/Out of network Costs
Coverage for Your Psychological Needs
We are not "in-network" with all insurance carriers and have the reasons for such listed below. However, many of our providers currently accept Blue Cross Blue Shield. For all other insurances, your therapist will offer a "superbill" at the end of every month. A "superbill" is a invoice of what you have paid your therapist to provide to your insurance carrier to obtain partial reimbursement for their services. We encourage inquiring about this with your insurance carrier by asking if they reimburse for "individual outpatient therapy for out-of-network providers" if you are interested in working with one of our providers. Please note that we do not file claims on your behalf for this and will expect payment for services to be made at the time of each appointment.
If you are interested in learning which providers accept Blue Cross or what their private pay rates are, please look at their individual profiles from the Meet The Team page.
As we understand life can be unpredictable, we are happy to discuss a sliding scale during your relationship with your provider with the agreement that this is for a limited period of time due to extenuating circumstances.
Why do we not provide in-network insurance services to other insurance carriers?
Coverage for Your Psychological Needs
There are a number of reasons why we do not provide in-network insurance services. As our practice prides ourself in being transparent with our clients, we want to provide this information to you all. We have decided to accept Blue Cross Blue Shield, however, as we believe in expanding affordable heath care to the queer community.
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All insurance companies require a diagnosis and evidence that services as "medical necessity." In other words, therapists are required to prove that you need therapy by fitting into the criteria of a diagnosis. We do not view clients in this way. In the same way you can go to the doctor for a cough without it being bronchitis, you should be able to meet with a therapist when you are sad without it being clinical depression.
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Insurance companies can, and often do, retroactively deny a claim and take money back that they have already paid. This is known as a "clawback". This has nothing to do with the quality of services provided, but it often more due to administrative issues. Many times this is due to the insurance not deeming it "medically necessary." This further puts pressure on clinicians financially and to pathologize you.
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Most reimbursement rates from insurance companies are far below my out of pocket fee. Working with insurance means therapists often work longer hours, seeing more clients to ensure they can support themselves and afford the costs that go into supporting a private practice. This may mean higher levels of stress, which can impact the quality of the services they provide.
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As billing is often extensive and time consuming, most therapists pay someone to complete this task, which is costly. Insurance carriers do not account for this, among many other costs when considering reimbursement.