The decision to be a private pay practice was made with much thought and consideration.  The value Empowered Counseling of Texas places on the autonomy of our clients and universal access to mental health care both greatly informed the decision.  By allowing clients who have mental health insurance benefits to pay their copay rate there is no downside for you, the client, but rather many benefits, a few of which are listed below. Those without insurance will be eligible for a sliding scale rate based on income and expenses.  This rate will fall between $40 to $70.  Private pay clients that are not of limited income will be charged $100 per session. Should you have any questions or special circumstances, please do not hesitate to call at 469-305-8214 or send an email to EmpoweredCounselingofTexas@gmail.com.

 

Disadvantages of Insurance & Our Advantage to Private Pay Clients:

 

• We offer private pay clients the per session equal to their co-pay rate as determined by their insurance company.  This means that if you have insurance coverage for therapy/counseling/mental health services, then you won’t pay more than your insurance’s copay.  

 

• Not going through insurance companies for billing, but honoring their copay rates means that we are never “out of network” for potential clients and clients don’t have the burden of filing for reimbursement and waiting to receive payment. 

 

• Insurance deductibles often must be met before benefits kick in meaning that you must have already paid out of pocket for expenses and can range from $500 to more than $5000 prior to using your healthcare benefits. 

 

• To bill insurance a diagnosis is required.  This is limiting the client’s autonomy and ability to access therapy when they feel they want or need to rather than waiting until issues have reached critical mass. Diagnosis must be made with corroborating evidence and assessments, therefore if a client’s symptoms do not meet diagnostic thresholds as determined by the DSM-5 therapy/counseling services can be denied.

 

• When billing insurance they dictate the number of counseling sessions based on the diagnosis they require regardless of the desires or opinion  of the client.

 

• Using insurance means that your therapy records and  diagnosis become a part of your permanent health care record and can be used to deny you quality life insurance or additional insurance benefits down the road.

 

• Private pay clients can rest assured that their records will be guarded with the maximum degree of privacy allowed by law in the state of Texas and access to your records is available to you at any time.

• Insurance companies can deny services at any time for any reason. This is known as a “claw back”.

 

Should you have any questions or special circumstances, please do not hesitate to call or email at 469-305-8214 or EmpoweredCounselingofTexas@gmail.com.