I am currently contracted with aetna insurance plans, including aetna student health insurance (SHIP) plans

I am not contracted with Excellus BCBS or any other BCBS plans.

Locally, Excellus continues to either reduce reimbursement rates for providers or increase them at rates that are significantly below market rate and exponentially lower than their premium increases.

If you are impacted by my decision to not contract with Excellus, I strongly encourage you to call or email the company to let them know.

The choice to use your insurance coverage is your own and there are often many variables to consider in making this decision.

If you choose to work with me, you are welcome to use your insurance coverage (if you have aetna insurance) or you can choose not to use your insurance coverage.

I recommend calling your insurance carrier to make sure I am in-network. I encourage you to ask the following questions when you call your insurance company.

Does my plan have a deductible? How much is left to pay on my deductible?

What is my estimated cost for outpatient mental health therapy?

Many insurance plans offer out of network reimbursement (partial). This usually means that you pay for therapy out of pocket, then submit a receipt and your insurer then pays you a percentage back.

Please call the phone number on your card to see what your specific plan offers.

If you have would like to use your out of network benefits, I am happy to provide the paperwork that your plan requires, please just let me know!

The largest benefit for most people is financial as costs will typically be lower when using your insurance coverage compared to paying out of pocket for services.

Submitting a mental health claim to any health insurance company in any capacity carries a risk to confidentiality, privacy, as well as to future capacity to obtain employment, military affiliation, health, disability or life insurance. Individuals may also encounter higher premiums or risk exclusions in their care in the future .

When you submit claims to your insurance company, they (your insurance company) becomes part of your care and they have the right to require authorization, audit session notes, deny claims and limit care in various ways including session length and treatment duration.

An additional risk of using your health insurance for mental health coverage is the possibility of future impact (rejection/denial) on life insurance or disability insurance coverage.

Many insurance companies provide conflicting information on what is and is not covered for evaluation services, which can result in unexpected out of pocket costs regardless of coverage.

Billing through insurance also frequently results in barriers/limitations for what can and cannot be done in an assessment or in treatment.

You are responsible for knowing your insurance plan and coverage. I will attempt to verify your coverage prior to our first meeting as a courtesy, however the best way for you to know what your costs will be is to call the phone number on your insurance card. There is no way for me to know for sure what your coverage is until an Explanation of Benefits is processed by your insurance company.

Ultimately you are responsible for all costs/fees required to services.

Payment is due at the beginning of or prior to each session. Payment can be made via Zelle, cash or check.

I ask that you give at least 24 hours notice prior to scheduled appointment for psychotherapy sessions. The cancellation policy for assessments is 48 hours prior to scheduled appointment.

For cancellations with less notice than described above, you will be responsible for a $150 cancellation fee.

The "No Surprises" Act requires health care providers to provide current and new patients who are uninsured or self-pay with a "Good Faith Estimate" (GFE) of cost for treatment. This regulation attempts to provide patients with transparency regarding their health care costs.​ While therapy presents a unique circumstance for estimating costs due to variable factors (patient may terminate therapy at any time, cancellations may occur, etc.), I will do her best to provide anyone interested with a GFE.