Fees, Payments, and Billing
Payment for services is an important part of any professional relationship. This is even more true in therapy; one treatment goal is to make relationships and the duties and obligations they involve clear. You are responsible for seeing that your therapist’s services are paid for. Meeting this responsibility shows your commitment and maturity. Seasons current regular fees are as follows. You will be given advance notice if these fees should change. Regular therapy services are $350.00 for the first diagnostic session, with following sessions at $300.00 for each 45-60 minute session. You will be asked to provide a credit card on file and after any insurance payments are received by Seasons, your credit card will be charged for any amounts that you owe. Other payment or fee arrangements must be worked out before the end of the first session. Insurance reimbursement levels may be affected by insurance company agreements, so for clients choosing to use their insurance final costs will be in accordance with the agreements Seasons has with innetwork insurance companies.
Diagnosis: It is important that you know that insurance companies require that your therapist diagnose your mental condition and indicate that you have an ‘illness’ before they will agree to reimburse. In the event a diagnosis is required, your therapist will inform you of the diagnosis plan to state on the receipt for services. Any diagnosis made will become a part of your permanent insurance and medical record.
Telephone consultations: Your therapist believes that telephone consultations may be suitable or even needed at times in therapy. If so, he or she will charge you their regular fee, prorated for the time needed. If your therapist needs to have long telephone conferences with other professionals as part of your treatment, you will be billed for these at the same rate as for regular therapy services. If you are concerned about this, please be sure to discuss it with your therapist in advance so you and they can set a policy that is comfortable for both of you. Of course, there is no charge for calls about appointments or similar business issues. Insurance companies will typically not provide reimbursement for telephone consultations.
Extended sessions: Occasionally it may be better to go on with a session, rather than stop or postpone work on a particular issue. When this extension is more than 10 minutes your therapist will tell you, because sessions that are extended beyond 10 minutes will be charged on a prorated basis. Insurance may not pay for the extended portion of a session.
Reports: Your therapist will not charge you for his or her time spent making routine reports to your insurance company, but will charge fees on a prorated basis for other types of written reports that you request.
If you think you may have trouble paying your bills on time, please discuss this with your therapist. Your therapist will also raise the matter with you so you can arrive at a solution. If your unpaid balance reaches $1,000.00, your therapist will notify you in writing. If it then remains unpaid, he or she may stop therapy with you if you and they cannot agree on a payment plan. Fees that continue unpaid after this may be turned over to small-claims court or a collection service and you agree to allow the practice to do that. If you challenge a credit card fee, then you allow the practice to respond to the credit card company. If the practice chooses to do that, they will report only enough information to collect fees due to your therapist.
Because your therapist is a licensed mental health therapist, many health insurance plans will help you pay for therapy and other services he or she offers. Because health insurance is written by many different companies, your therapist cannot tell you what your plan covers. Please read your plan’s booklet under coverage for “Outpatient Psychotherapy” or under “Treatment of Mental and Nervous Conditions.” Or call your employer’s benefits office to find out what you need to know.
If your health insurance will pay part of your therapist’s fee, the practice will provide
appropriate billing. However, please keep some things in mind: Your therapist had no role in deciding what your insurance covers. Your employer or you (if you have individual coverage) decided which, if any, services will be covered and how much you have to pay.
You are responsible for checking your insurance coverage, deductibles, payment rates, copayments, and so forth. You are responsible for paying the fees that are agreed upon. If you ask the practice to bill a separated spouse, a relative, or an insurance company and payment is not received on time, then you agree to pay this amount. In addition, the plan may have rules, limits, and procedures that should be discussed, and your therapist may not be on one of their panels.
The practice will provide information about you to your insurance company with your consent, and by signing below you agree that it may do that. By signing this form, you agree to assign any reimbursement you receive from your insurance company to the practice.
If you choose to not have your therapist send information to your insurance company, you must select this option before each session and then pay for the session in full and it will not be done through Seasons, but may be handled with your individual therapist. With this option no report of any information will be made to your insurance company about that session. Although insurance companies say that they maintain confidentiality, oftentimes they report information to a national data bank that may later affect your ability to obtain other types of insurance.