PSYCHOTHERAPY FEES AND INSURANCE OPTIONS

I offer session rates on a sliding scale based on income:

Income below 75k/yr

• $125/session

Income between $75k-100k/yr

• $170/session

Income above 100k/yr

• $220/session

All fees are due at the time of our appointment. I accept credit or debit card payments, as well as FSA and HSA cards.

I am able to bill Providence and Moda insurance. For clients using other insurance providers, I may be able to offer a superbill to be submitted to your insurance company for reimbursement.

Insurance can be confusing! Here are my recommended steps:

Verify my supervisor (Megan Cormier Castaneda, PsyD) is in-network by checking your insurance portal or calling your insurance carrier. We may not be in-network with your specific plan even if we’re in-network with your carrier. Frustrating, huh? 

Once that is confirmed, call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card to gather more information. Here are some questions you might ask:

• Do I have mental health benefits?

• Is Megan Cormier Castañeda in network with my plan? (just to double-check)

• When do my benefits start and renew?

• What is my copay or coinsurance?

• Are telehealth sessions covered? What is the copay or coinsurance for telehealth?

• Do I have a deductible I have to meet? How much of my deductible has been met this year?

• Do I have HRA/HSA dollars to use toward the deductible and out-of-pocket expenses?

• Do I have unlimited therapy sessions or am I limited to a certain number?

• Do I need any pre-authorization for therapy?

• If out-of-network:

  • The provider I want to see is a psychologist resident supervised by a licensed psychologist. What can I expect as a reimbursement rate for a 45-minute appointment? Is it the same reimbursement for telehealth and in-person?

  • How would I submit the superbill for reimbursement?

If we establish a therapeutic relationship, I work with a billing service which offers an insurance eligibility check prior to the start of treatment to support clarity of what you can expect to pay. However, they are not able to verify network status which is why it’s important to follow the steps above.

While using insurance may make treatment more affordable, there are associated privacy, confidentiality, and treatment limitations. For instance, insurance companies may ask for information about a patient’s mental health diagnosis, symptoms, treatment, and goals. Insurance companies require psychotherapy treatment to be medically necessary and can deny frequency of treatment or determine that sessions are no longer needed despite your wishes and my advocacy. By not using insurance, you have increased privacy and greater autonomy over the way you wish to engage in treatment. For instance, some people find that participating in long-term therapy or more frequent sessions increases the richness of the therapeutic work.

The No Surprises Act of 2022 offers protections from surprise billing. You can learn more about policies, resources, and resolving disputes here or by visiting https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises .