Because I am a licensed psychotherapist in the State of California, most insurance companies will recognize claims for work with me as long as I provide legitimate, formal diagnoses. I have never applied to be on any preferred provider panels, however, and I do not bill insurance companies directly, because some of these practices would take time from my clients, and others would require that I obtain ongoing and repeated approvals from insurance companies for work my clients and I are already engaged upon. Both approaches seem to me to dilute the quality of care I can provide, while they usually offer relatively small financial benefit to my clients.

Instead of accepting insurance or other third-party payments, therefore, I ask my clients to pay me at each session, and to accept reimbursement from their own insurance carriers. In this way I reduce the amount of time I spend with billing matters and third-party approvals, and increase the time I can spend with my clients without having to raise my fees to cover the costs of a billing service. Of course, I am always prepared to provide statements, fill out relevant forms, and otherwise support such requests for reimbursement.