Nautilus Counseling is excited to offer new insurance-pay options through Sondermind as of today, March 12, 2024! Clients who already use insurance for their sessions will receive information about being transferred over to the Sondermind platform. Clients who currently pay privately can view the list of accepted insurances here: Sondermind – Colorado.
This blog post will cover the three major considerations for the folks who are considering the transition to insurance-pay, but are not yet sure. These considerations are: finances, diagnosis, and privacy.
Finances
Many people have concerns about the cost of mental health treatment. It is more financially feasible for many clients to bill through insurance versus paying a counselor privately. However, make sure to read the fine print on your insurance plan. You may still be liable for co-pays for every session, and co-pay costs vary widely. Additionally, some insurance plans will not begin to cover care until your deductible is met for that year.
Whether or not you bill through insurance, you may still be personally responsible for the costs of late cancellations or no-showed sessions, and the cost of missed sessions does not usually apply to deductibles.
Diagnosis
Clients seek counseling for a wide variety of reasons, and sometimes these needs do not rise to the level of a diagnosable condition, such as those found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual – 5th edition (DSM-5). Insurance will typically only cover mental health treatment if it aims to address a diagnosed condition.
This means two things for you, the client: 1) even if you are not interested in receiving a diagnosis, you may need to if you want to use insurance. 2) you may not be eligible to use insurance if your counselor cannot find sufficient symptoms to support a diagnosis and subsequent treatment plan.
Privacy
Billing through insurance usually means that your insurance agency has access to information about your mental health and treatment. Sondermind will require a copy of the therapy notes for every session that is billed through insurance. In private pay situations, only you and your therapist have access to your therapy notes and treatment plan, unless you explicitly authorize another party through a Release of Information form.
Usually sharing mental health information with your insurance provider is not a problem, but certain individuals may have qualms with their private information being distributed more broadly than it must.
Current clients are welcome to contact Kara directly with questions about billing and insurance. If you are a prospective client unsure about how to pay for counseling, feel free to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to discuss your options in greater depth.
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