Rates & Insurance

I have elected to work outside of insurance companies, except for BCBS, so I am an “out-of-network” provider for every other insurance company. I will assist you in your efforts to obtain reimbursement from your insurance company by providing you with a receipt containing a diagnosis code and a procedure code. As a general rule, insurance companies reimburse for “out-of-network” providers at a lower rate than they do for “in-network” providers, and there is usually a deductible to be met. As a consequence, it will probably cost you more to see me than an “in-network” provider.

Why would you choose to do that? There are several advantages, listed below. However, the overriding advantage is that therapy is an intensely personal process

• Privacy: Other than the diagnosis and frequency of sessions, no other information will be shared with your insurance company. Since all psychotherapy is done in confidentiality, no information will be shared with anyone else, including your employer, unless you request or authorize it.
• Flexibility
  • Frequency: We can schedule sessions as frequently or infrequently as required, and there is no limit to the number of sessions we can schedule per year or week.
  • Length of session: We can vary sessions in length, according to clinical and practical considerations: from 15 minute check-ins to sessions extended to two hours or more.
  • Modality: We can use phone and Skype sessions when face-to-face sessions are impossible or inconvenient.
  • Financial: Fees and payment arrangements are unregulated. We can negotiate them freely between us.
  • Freedom of choice
    • Choice of therapist: You are not limited to your insurance company’s list of providers, which often includes less experienced providers. Most insurance plans do not pay highly experienced therapists more than those just beginning their careers.
    • All decisions – financial, clinical and practical – are made between therapist and client without restricting rules or need for approval by a third party.
    • Effectiveness
      • I work for you, not your insurance company. That enhances our therapeutic relationship and makes us directly accountable to each other and no one else.