HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE AND PAYMENTS
Because I am a licensed marriage and family therapist, many health insurance plans will help you pay for therapy and other services I offer. Because health insurance is written by many different companies, I cannot tell you what your plan covers. Please read your plan's booklet under coverage for "Outpatient Psychotherapy," or call your insurer's office to find out what you need to know.
If your health insurance will pay part of my fee, I will help you with your insurance claim forms. However, please keep two things in mind:
1. I had no role in deciding what your insurance covers. Your employer decided which, if any, of my services will be covered and how much you (and I) will be paid. You are responsible for checking your insurance coverage, deductibles, payment rates, co-payments, and so forth. Your insurance contract is between you and your company; it is not between me and the insurance company.
2. You—not your insurance company or any other person or company—are responsible for paying the fees we agree upon. If you ask me to bill a separated spouse, a relative, or an insurance company, and I do not receive payment on time, I will then expect this payment from you.
To seek payment from your insurance company, you must first obtain a claim form from your employer's benefits office or call your insurance company. Complete the claim form. Then attach my statement to the claim form and mail it to your insurance company. My statement already provides the information asked for on the claim form.
Because I am a licensed marriage and family therapist, many health insurance plans will help you pay for therapy and other services I offer. Because health insurance is written by many different companies, I cannot tell you what your plan covers. Please read your plan's booklet under coverage for "Outpatient Psychotherapy," or call your insurer's office to find out what you need to know.
If your health insurance will pay part of my fee, I will help you with your insurance claim forms. However, please keep two things in mind:
1. I had no role in deciding what your insurance covers. Your employer decided which, if any, of my services will be covered and how much you (and I) will be paid. You are responsible for checking your insurance coverage, deductibles, payment rates, co-payments, and so forth. Your insurance contract is between you and your company; it is not between me and the insurance company.
2. You—not your insurance company or any other person or company—are responsible for paying the fees we agree upon. If you ask me to bill a separated spouse, a relative, or an insurance company, and I do not receive payment on time, I will then expect this payment from you.
To seek payment from your insurance company, you must first obtain a claim form from your employer's benefits office or call your insurance company. Complete the claim form. Then attach my statement to the claim form and mail it to your insurance company. My statement already provides the information asked for on the claim form.
MANAGED CARE
If You Have a Managed Care Contract
If you belong to a health maintenance organization (HMO) or have another kind of health insurance with managed care, decisions about what kind of care you need and how much of it you can receive will be reviewed by the plan. The plan has rules, limits, and procedures that we should discuss. Please bring your health insurance plan's description of services to one of our early meetings, so that we can talk about it and decide what to do.
In order to help you with any health insurance benefits, I will have to send information about you to your managed care company (if you have one) or to an agent of your insurance company. These companies are increasingly asking for more information about clients and will want to know about your problems, symptoms, family and work life, and so forth. This information will be reviewed by the staff of the insurance and managed care companies, and possibly by the staff of your employer. These staffs do not have the same training in maintaining confidentiality as do mental health professionals.
I will provide information about you to your insurance company only with your informed and written consent. I may send this information by mail or by fax. I will maintain the privacy of your records, but I ask you not to hold me responsible for accidents or for anything that happens as a result.
