Does insurance cover financial therapy?

Is financial therapy covered by insurance? The short answer is, financial therapy may be covered by insurance.

Read on.

For an insurance company to cover financial therapy or any psychotherapy, you have to be attending sessions, in person or teletherapy, with a licensed psychotherapist.

A licensed psychotherapist has already had at least some training or exposure to finance therapy.

This is something that is often not made public but almost every training program has some element of finance therapy. Just like almost every training program explores addiction, trauma, and family systems. However, therapists tend to find specialties – areas that they enjoy working with.

This is why you will see therapists who specialize in couples, trauma, addiction, disordered eating or, finance therapy – to name a few.

What is my financial therapist is a licensed insurance agent or wealth advisor, certified financial planner, or other finance professional?

If my finance therapist is also a banker, is financial therapy covered by insurance? The answer then is a resounding, NO.

While it is a commendable achievement, being a finance professional has really very little to do with psychotherapy.

If your “finance therapist” is not a therapist but a CFA, CPA, Dentist, Retail shop owner, Fireman, nutritionist, etc., they are not ethically or legally allowed to practice psychotherapy if they are not a licensed psychotherapist.

Example. Just like you might have a fear of dental work, and the dentist works with teeth and people that own the teeth, does not make a dentist a life coach or psychotherapist just because they have opinions on how you should feel about your teeth- even if they took a webinar on regarding those feelings.

Do not expect an insurance company to cover anyone but a licensed psychotherapist who is a designated a licensed psychotherapist on their tax records as a definition of business scope.

The point is, every career has feelings and behaviors attached to it, but that doesn’t make the person in the career, a psychotherapist and this is why just searching for a “finance therapist” may lead you down a financial drain, ironically.

What if my finance therapist is a finance professional, and a licensed psychotherapist?

Is financial therapy covered by insurance if my therapist is a licensed mental health provider? In this case, if they are acting as a psychotherapist, only have a relationship with you past, present, and future, as a licensed psychotherapist, and this is how they define their business on their taxes, then yes.

What if my coach or financial therapist had an undergrad, master’s, or doctorate in psychology?

That’s helpful in many ways but it is not enough to qualify them unless they have experience in working with people in that scope (not just teaching or having the degree) and they are licensed and define their work as a licensed psychotherapist that would be accepted by insurance companies.

Now let’s look at some other issues you might run into.

My mental health provider won’t accept my insurance even though I have coverage. Why not?

Psychotherapists who specialize in financial therapy may be asked if a patient wishes to use insurance. Not all clients do, and I’ll explain why.

Some workplaces only give a certain amount of sessions per person, to attend mental health services or that particular psychotherapist does not accept insurance. This is actually quite popular, to not accept insurance, as insurance companies can change the payments and payment timing at any time.

The difference between doctors offices and therapist offices in terms of insurance

Unlike medical offices where a doctor might see four people an hour plus the physician assistant and nurses might have a schedule, there could easily be six to ten people an hour being billed at a doctor’s office. In a therapy office, traditionally that is one person an hour and approximately one hour is designated to preparing and writing notes about the patient.

Therapists actually have two hours per one client; that means if an insurance company deems that the session should be only $30, that therapist has to figure out how to make the payment of $15 an hour, stretch.

If you are having issues with your work insurance

In the event, your insurance is backed on by your employer, and there is an issue, you need to ask for assistance. Note that when using insurance, you are giving up some of your confidentiality and once you integrate your employer in this process, your employer and employees may have access to your records or other details. So if you ask, is financial therapy covered by insurance, the answer should be “yes”.

Using your mental health coverage

It is important to get details about benefits and policies and there may be perks that you are not aware of, so make sure that you ask your employer about the details of mental health coverage before you need it. Keep a written copy of everything you need and make sure you are alerted to updates because that does happen. Financial therapy with a licensed psychotherapist should be covered under mental health.

What you need to know about mental health coverage

Everything. A recent study found that 90 percent of Americans did not know anything about mental health and its laws. Make sure that you clearly understand

Parity Law- You need to know this

The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) is a federal law. It concerns itself to prevent group health plans and insurance providers that provide mental health, including substance, from imposing less favorable benefit limitations on those benefits than on medical/surgical benefits.

Mental health parity is essentially equal treatment of mental health conditions and substance use disorders within insurance plans. This is important – it means that if a health condition like cardiac issues offers unlimited visits, then your depression or anxiety should also be privy to offer unlimited visits.

Parity isn’t always good

People assume that parity is good, but remember that they can alter how the coverage works and how much they cover. There are also exceptions. If your company, for instance, has less than fifty employees, it is possible you won’t have this option at all, which is insanity unto itself that there’s an issue with mental health equality at all.

How do I know if my health insurance plan provides mental health coverage?

Look in your summary of benefits plans that can include information on specialized services to treat mental disease. Ask for clear answers from your employer if you have questions and get it all in writing. If there is a discussion or a meeting, the meeting minutes are to be forwarded so you have it for your records.

My insurance covers out-of-network providers. What do I need to do to get reimbursed for psychotherapy services?

Sometimes companies have forms to fill out, but overall, if you get a receipt for services from your licensed psychotherapist, you will be able to submit it to your insurance. Your psychotherapist has no doubt done this quite a bit and should be comfortable with providing a receipt to turn it into your insurance. Note that it is up to you to turn this in, not the psychotherapist.

Why doesn’t my psychotherapist accept insurance?

This is not unusual. Many psychotherapists find insurance to be a bit of a gamble and game, and they prefer to simply bill the client. They often will offer sliding scales or altered fees because of this. Financial therapists work to bring you dignity, lift shame and also, keep you in confidential spaces. They are mindful of your costs.

You would be surprised that it can be less costly and more in-depth to bypass insurance altogether for psychotherapy. Even if your psychotherapist does accept insurance, ask if they offer non-insurance payments and explore that.

A psychotherapist who does not take insurance is also ensuring you have a deeper level of confidentiality with your employer and the insurance company, and any third parties that may be accessing those files who are integrated into the insurance process.

I am interested in Financial Therapy and do not know where to turn first.

A good idea is to look toward your local therapists first, to explore if they specialize. If they specialize in will be obvious on their website. If it is a website with a link or blog on finance therapy, that’s not really specializing usually; the entire site and all of their professional social networking including professional listings should reflect the specialty.

One area that many people struggle with is financial infidelity; in fact, many people are committing this without realizing it. I did an article here, to outline what it is and what to do about it. A therapist who is versed in trauma, interpersonal relationships, etc., will be able to help you.

Remember that these therapists are also often able to help you with trauma, relationships, and other struggles. One issue many people have is feeling cluttered in life and cluttered with financial difficulties. This article might help give clarity.