Insurance Plans and Managed Care

No, I do not take insurance. However, many PPOs and HMOs will cover all or a portion of my fee. If you would like to use your insurance, please contact your insurance company and ask what coverage you have to see an "out-of-network provider." They will tell you what your coverage is; if possible, ask them to fax you or email you a copy of your coverage so that you can use this when you submit any documents to them in the future. I will then start to provide care to you, you will pay for the sessions as we go, and once a month I will prepare a superbill for you that you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement.

Another question I am asked is "Why don't you take insurance?"

I decided not to work directly with insurance companies for several reasons. The first is that they require me to give you a mental disorder diagnosis; many people that I work with would just like new skills or some different strategies to try at home or work, they do not necessarily have a diagnosis. Secondly, many insurance companies put profound restrictions on what types of services they will cover. For example, many insurance companies do not cover marriage counseling or family counseling.

The third reason is that I want you to be actively involved in determining what type of care you are receiving, with insurance, many of your choices and my treatment options are limited. The fourth and most important reason for my not taking insurance is that it severly jeopardizes your confidentiality. If I submit a bill to the insurance companies on your behalf, your confidential information is processed by the insurance company and then stored in a database. Anyone who is involved in the processing or handling of your claim may have access to your records and anyone who has a legitimate reason to access the medical database, such as insurance companies and future employers, can view your confidential records.