Therapy Fees & Insurance Info | Greenville & Travelers Rest, SC

Insurance

My practice is managed-care free. That means that because I don’t accept insurance directly, you maintain complete control over the services you receive here. Our current medical system is designed to require insurance approval and oversight for much of the healthcare we receive, which can sometimes lead to unhelpful limits and restrictions. This model is also heavily problem-focused, when celebrating your strengths is equally or more important. It shouldn’t be this way, and at Legacy Counseling Services, it isn’t!

While I don’t accept insurance directly, that doesn’t mean I’m not insurance friendly. Many clients choose to use out of network benefits to seek partial or full reimbursement for counseling services. That means that I provide you with a special receipt called a superbill that you can provide to your insurance company for possible reimbursement. You may wish to verify your out of network benefits with your insurance provider. To make this process as easy as possible, I have created a simple, free guide, including a helpful script, that you can use when verifying your benefits, which you can download here.

Counseling and Insurance Considerations

When deciding whether to seek reimbursement for counseling services, you may find the following considerations to be helpful:

Some insurance plans have copays, deductibles, and coinsurance amounts that are not significantly less than the full session fee.
Insurance companies require that a diagnosis be given in order to cover services. This becomes a permanent part of your health record, and can sometimes become accessible to future insurance companies to which you might apply, such as life insurance carriers.
Some insurance plans limit the number and length of sessions that you can receive, and often options that may be beneficial to you, such as couples counseling, video/phone counseling, or walk and talk counseling, are excluded from coverage.
Private pay counseling affords you complete control over your privacy. No one else has access to your private information without your written consent.
Lastly, there are no financial surprises with private pay counseling. You know upfront what you’ll pay without the confusion of copays, coinsurances, deductibles, etc…

Rates

I offer a free 15 minute consultation via phone to discuss your needs and how therapy may be able to help. This helps us decide if my skills and experience are a good fit for your needs, and it gives you the opportunity to address any questions you may have initially. For therapy, my rates are consistent with those of many other providers in the area and are as follows:

Initial consultation: $145 (75 minutes)
Individual/Family Therapy: $125 (55 minutes)

As of January 2022, you are entitled to a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) in compliance with the No Surprises Act, and clients will receive a GFE prior to their first appointment. While transparency of fees has always been one of my core values, this law aims to further ensure that you won’t receive any surprise bills. You can read the official notice regarding Good Faith Estimates here.

Making Counseling Affordable

If affordability is the primary or only reason to use insurance for healthcare, and let be honest…it often is, we need a better way. Here are a few alternatives that you may find helpful:

As described above, you may be eligible for out of network reimbursement from your insurance provider.
Using a Health Savings Account. If your insurance plan offers an HSA, those pre-tax dollars can be used for therapy.
Reducing the frequency of therapy from weekly to every other week. This may not be a good fit for everyone depending on your goals and needs, but for some, this approach may help you fit therapy into your budget.
Work with one of my supervisees. I am committed to helping train the next generation of counselors, and I supervise a number of masters-level intern students and Licensed Professional Counselor Associates who have already graduated and are completing their residency. While I am not providing direct care when you work with one of my supervisees, I will be directly involved in their counseling experience with you, and will be providing them guidance and support as needed.
If none of these options are preferable, it’s possible that one of my colleagues may have options that more easily fit your budget. You can check out of my recommended referrals for low-cost counseling here.

Payment

I accept cash, check and all major credit cards as forms of payment.

Cancellation Policy

If you are unable to attend a session, please make sure you cancel at least 24 hours beforehand. Otherwise, you may be charged the Session Reservation Fee as outlined in the Financial Agreement of the new client documentation.