Financial Considerations
(If you plan to use insurance please read below)
Payment for services is important in any professional relationship. This is even truer in therapy. One treatment goal is to make relationships and the duties they involve clear. You are responsible for seeing that my services are paid for. Meeting this responsibility shows your commitment and maturity. We will discuss and agree to a fee by the end of the free initial consultation of 1 – 3 sessions. The initial consultation is free of charge.
I realize that my fees involve substantial amounts of money, although they are well in line with what similar professionals charge. For you to get the best value for your money, we must work hard and well.
I will assume that our agreed-upon fee-paying relationship will continue as long as I provide services to you. I will assume this until you tell me in person, by telephone, or by certified mail that you wish to end it. You have a responsibility to pay for any services you receive before you end the relationship.
At the end of each month, I will send you a statement covering services rendered during that month. I ask that the invoice be paid within ten days of receipt. The statement can be used for health insurance claims, although as mentioned in the informed consent section, I do, as a courtesy, bill insurance companies for my patients. At the end of treatment, and when you have paid for all sessions, I will send you a final statement for your tax records if needed.
As regards tax deductibility, depending on your financial circumstances and total medical costs for any year, psychotherapy may be a deductible expense, so consult your tax advisor. Cost of transportation to and from appointments and fees paid may be deductible from your personal income taxes as medical expenses, but you should check to be sure.
Payment for Services may be made by: check, Zelle, or Venmo
Good Faith Estimate Notice to Patients and Prospective Patients:
Under the law, health care providers need to give clients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the expected charges for medical services, including psychotherapy services.
You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency healthcare services, including psychotherapy services.
You can ask Dr. Brooks, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule a service, or at any time during treatment.
If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill. Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, or how to dispute a bill, see your Estimate, or visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises
Insurance Considerations
I accept insurance if you have a policy that allows out-of-network benefits. I will provide the paperwork you need to submit for reimbursement or submit the claims for you electronically. In either case your insurance company should reimburse you for some percentage of the session fee. Therefore, you will still be responsible for the balance due at the end of each month. Also if you have flex plan benefits through work, or a health savings account, you should be able to use those funds to go toward the cost.
(There is a lot of variation from insurance plan to insurance plan on the percentage of the fee the company will reimburse, as well as on the deductible and the number of sessions they will cover. You may want to call your insurance company first to find out exactly what the benefits are on your policy.)
I am not an in-network provider for any managed care health insurance companies. The reasons for this are:
There is an underlying philosophy of managed care that says psychotherapy should be utilized as an intervention for reducing targeted symptoms in as short a time as possible. This is very different than the philosophy that psychotherapy can be utilized as a place to learn how to become happier or live a more fulfilling life or become more secure as a person or other goals of this type.
Managed care companies require a treatment format designed to quickly reduce specific symptoms. It is like managed care medicine - high volumes of patients that the doctor sees for the shortest time possible.
I prefer to consult in detail with the patient or couple and base my recommendation on the nature of the difficulties they are presenting. I might recommend short term therapy but if so it will be because short term treatment is what appears to me to be he best way to help with their concerns.
I believe the therapy itself is adversely affected by the insecurity of managed care procedures. Most managed care companies only authorize about 5 to 10 sessions at a time. Even if the policy says you have 30 or more sessions covered, you can never really know if the next 5 sessions will be approved or if the treatment will be cut off at any minute.
I believe this uncertainty affects how much the mind will open itself up. It is like starting a relationship with someone you know is planning to move in 6 months. The mind and heart will automatically hold back a bit, even if you don't intend them to.
Managed care doesn't have a lot of concern about how much the mind opens up. There is concern for targeted reduction of specific symptoms as quickly and cheaply as possible. I do have concern for relief from painful symptoms but I also have concern for allowing for deeper self exploration if the patient desires and needs it. I also care whether or not a person who needs and wants to open up feels that it is safe to do so.