Policies
Scheduling and Cancellation
Appointments are approximately 45-60 minutes long. If you should arrive over 15 minutes late for an appointment, your session will have to be rescheduled. If you must cancel an appointment, please give at least 24 hours advance notice through Simple Practice Patient Portal. Forgotten appointments or last minute cancellations will be given a free warning, then assessed a $60 fee following the second offense, according to the therapist’s discretion. Please note that insurance does not cover canceled appointments. The fee for each session, or the co-pay required by your insurance, is due at the time of the session and may be paid via patient portal, personal check, or cash.
Self-Pay
Insurance
Carter Collaborative is in network with a variety of insurances including: Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Cigna, UHC, MS Medicaid, Optum, and CHIP. Any arrangement you have for medical insurance is a contract between you and the insurance company. CCC’s biller does verify coverage once it is input in the system under your file; however, In order for you to know clearly what your coverage is beforehand, you will need to call your insurance carrier and find out exactly what outpatient mental health services your policy covers with your therapist and what the conditions of coverage are.
Questions to ask your insurance company:
If our services are In-Network:
• Do I have mental health benefits?
• Is pre-certification necessary?
• Is there a deductible?
• What is the co-pay (if any)?
• Is there a limit of sessions per year?
• Are the mental health benefits carved out to another entity?
If our services are Out-of Network:
• Do I have mental health benefits?
• Is pre-certification necessary?
• What is the deductible?
• What portion does the insurance pay per session?
• Is there a limit of sessions per year?
If your insurance carrier does not cover, or ceases to cover, for any reason, you are financially responsible for all charges. It is always your right wave insurance coverage to pay for services yourself and avoid all of the intricacies of insurance. Self pay clients are charged along a sliding scale between $80-$140 per hour. Some discounts are available per therapist’s discretion.
Confidentiality
Issues discussed in therapy are legally protected as both confidential and privileged. I take this seriously and desire therapy to be a safe space for every client. However, limits to this confidentiality include situations in which there is:
• suspected abuse or neglect of a child, elderly person or disabled person
• the clear indication that you are in danger of harming yourself or another person, or if you are unable to care for yourself
• a court order requiring release of information in certain circumstances
There are other circumstances when information may be released:
• Some insurers request that your primary care physician be apprised of your psychological care.
• If you wish information to be released to your doctor or lawyer, you will be asked to sign a form for that purpose.
• Any disability paperwork or medical documents will be made at therapist’s discretion and will incur a document fee. No medical documents are issued with EAP treatment.
• Your case may be discussed from time to time in clinical supervision.
• If you are referred to another professional within this office, you will be asked to sign a release so information can be shared in order to provide the best continuity of care.