Making Sense of Therapy Insurance in the New Year

Overview

Welcome to the new year! It's the perfect time to get a clear understanding of how your insurance works for therapy sessions. Many people find insurance details overwhelming, especially at the beginning of the year when things change. This guide is here to simplify that for you.

What's a Deductible and How Does It Reset?

The Yearly Reset

Every year, your insurance deductible starts over. Think of a deductible like a bucket you need to fill with your own money before your insurance kicks in to cover therapy costs. For instance, if your deductible is $500, you pay for your therapy sessions until you've spent $500. After that, your insurance starts paying.

Tip: Look at your deductible amount at the start of the year. This helps you budget for your therapy sessions early on.

Update Your Insurance Info

Why This Matters

If your insurance changes (like getting a new job), your therapy coverage might change too. For example, if Sarah hadn’t told her therapist about her new job’s insurance, she might have been caught off guard by different session limits and copays.

What to do:

Always tell your therapist about any insurance changes to avoid surprises in coverage or bills.

Checking Your Coverage

Why It's Important

Different insurance plans cover different therapy services. Some might pay for many types of therapy, while others only cover certain kinds.

Example: John found out his insurance only covers cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), not other types. Knowing this helped him pick the right therapist covered by his plan.

Advice: Read your insurance plan's details on therapy coverage or call your provider to understand what’s covered.

Pre-authorization: What Is It?

Getting Approval

Some insurance plans need a ‘yes’ from them before you start therapy. This is called pre-authorization.

Remember: Ask your insurance if you need pre-authorization. Your therapist’s office might help with this.

Example:

Emily’s therapist had to get approval from her insurance before starting sessions. This made sure her sessions were paid for by her insurance from day one.

Using FSA/HSA for Therapy

Using Pre-tax Money

FSA (Flex Spending Account) or HSA (Health Savings Account) are special accounts for medical expenses like therapy. They use money you don’t pay taxes on, which can save you more.

Real-Life Tip: Mark used his HSA to pay for therapy until his deductible was met. This saved him much more than had he not known.

Planning: Consider how much you might spend on therapy and put that amount in your FSA/HSA ahead of time.

Conclusion

Understanding your insurance doesn't have to be complicated. Knowing these basics can make a big difference. With this knowledge, you can focus more on your therapy journey and less on the financial side. Here's to a stress-free and healthy new year!

If you have questions about costs, please let us know. We are here to help!