My insurance benefits aren’t affordable for me for mental health at this time, does this mean I can’t get a therapist?

Unfortunately, sometimes when you have insurance, many plans do not have the best coverage and the cost can sometimes still be a barrier for clients to access therapy. The good news is, there are many options for lower cost services. Family Roots Therapy can offer a sliding scale, with each of our therapists keeping a certain number of sliding scale spots available and the option to work with student interns for very low cost sliding scale services. If we are unable to provide sliding scale services, we can help connect you to someone who can. There are many educational institutions and even private practitioners that offer sliding scale rates that can help save you, and we will make referrals to appropriate providers if we do not have any sliding scale spots available. If you have a provider or clinic in mind, it doesn’t hurt to reach out to see what options they have! Please see our provider list to see what their rates are and contact our office at info@familyrootstherapy.com to inquire about using our sliding scale.

Does my insurance limit how many sessions I can have?

It’s always best to call your insurance company to confirm, but typically, insurance companies do not necessarily limit the number of sessions you can have. However, most insurance companies will consider a once per week therapy visit as an outpatient level of therapy and want to see a documented need for a higher level of care to justify more frequent visits than weekly. If this is the case, it’s best to speak with your therapist and your insurance company about what frequency and level of care is covered.

Can I see a provider at Family Roots Therapy and at another clinic/agency?

This is typically not recommended and sometimes isn’t covered, but there are some exceptions. For example, if you are seeing two providers with two distinct specialties and types of treatment, it may not be an issue (for example, an individual therapist and a family therapist or seeing an individual therapist and also attending a DBT group). There are some limitations. Some Medicaid insurers won’t authorize two providers at the same time. Typically while a client is in a hospital or a higher level of care such as inpatient or day treatment, a separate outpatient provider can’t also bill at the same time.

Why is there a different therapist’s name listed on my EOB or on my invoice than the one I am seeing?

Some of our providers are still providing therapy under supervision of a licensed therapist. This means that they have what is called an “associate” license and while they can provide therapy, our insurance company may require a licensed provider to sign assessments and treatment plans and to bill insurance using what is called “supervisory billing”. This means we are billing under supervisor’s license as they are overseeing treatment. Not all insurance companies allow this, but for the ones that do, you may see your therapist’s supervisor listed as the licensed provider instead of your therapist’s name.

I have primary and secondary insurance. How does this work?

If you have primary and secondary insurance, it is extremely important that you tell us this and provide both insurance cards. We will bill your primary insurance first, and then bill your secondary insurance to pay for anything that is covered that the primary insurance didn’t pay for. This does mean that insurance billing takes longer, as we have to bill claims twice. 

The most common form of secondary insurance is Medicaid (OHP). If you have Medicaid and a primary insurance, please make sure that we are aware of the primary insurance and have the information to bill. Medicaid may not cover your services if the primary insurance wasn’t billed first.