Most people use their commerical medical insurance to help pay for
their psychotherapy. It is wise to find out what you're covered for,
before you rack up a number of sessions, rather than be unpleasantly
surprised later! You are responsible for any amounts that your medical
insurance does not cover. Check with your insurance plan, and find out
the following:
whether your must first get "preauthorization" from your insurance plan, before it will start to cover psychotherapy
whether there is a "deductible" (amount you must first pay yourself, before the plan kicks in)
the number of sessions the plan covers per year (usually 24 sessions; sometimes 12)
the amount of your co-payment (the amount you must pay for each session)
whether you must pay co-insurance (usually not; but there can be an additional amount you must pay for each session)
Make sure to bring your medical insurance card to your first session.
No Insurance?
If you have no commercial medical insurance, you probably are covered
under a public plan, such as HMSA-Quest, AlohaCare-Quest, Kaiser-Quest,
United HealthCare, Ohana Health Plan, Medicaid Fee-For-Service, or Medicare. Public plans do
not require you to pay any co-payments or co-insurance. Tricare may or may require a co-payment, depending on the plan.)
Let
me know if you are not covered by any insurance. I can give
you contact information so that you can apply for one of them. In the
meantime (assuming that you cannot pay for psychotherapy out of your
own pocket), I can refer you to a public clinic, run by the State of
Hawaii, Department of Health, Division of Mental Health.
$ 159.25 Initial one-hour diagnostic interview session
$ 176.25 Each subsequent one-hour treatment session
$ 118.20 Three-quarters of an hour treatment session
$ 79.15 Half-hour session treatment session
Family Therapy Fees
$
Family session (you + one or more family members)
$ Family session (one or more family members
without you)
$ 80.00 per 2 hour-group
$400.00 Total series fee for the following Groups which meet ten times:
How To Come Out From Under The Cloud of Depression
Eating Attitude Therapy
Overdoing It
Assertiveness For Wolves & Sheep
Fly Fear Free
$200.00 Total series fee for the following Groups which meet five times:
Relax!
How To Get Mellow Around That Dentist Fellow
TOL For ADD, HA & LD
$10.00 Eating Disorders Support Group (per session,
pay as you go); out-of-pocket only.
No Charge If you can't make a scheduled appointment, and you call me on my cell phone at least one day beforeto
cancel, there is no charge. You may leave a voice mail
message at any time of day or night. Do NOT text message me!!
"Instant" text messages are not always instant. They often do not come
in until the next day! You may cancel as often as you
need to, without penalty, as long as you give me that one-day notice.
But no one is perfect. Everyone has an emergency now and then, or
a "senior moment" (where you forget an appointment). You are allowed
one such "same-day cancellation" or "no-show" per year, with no penalty.
Penalties However, after your first "freebie", there will be a penalty.
Starting with the second "same-day cancellation," you will be charged
an amount equal to your co-payment for the missed session. Starting
with the second "no-show," you will be charged an amount equal to twice
your co-payment for the missed session. These penalties must be paid in
full before you can schedule another session. Your insurance will not
cover this.
If your sessions are covered by a non-commercial plan
(such as Quest, Tricare, Medicaid or Medicare) and so you have no
co-payment, then your penalty takes a different form. Starting with the
second "same-day cancellation," you will be asked to come to my office
and sit in my waiting area for one hour, before you can schedule
another session. Starting with the second "no-show," you will be asked
to sit for two hours. During this time, you may be asked to do some
repetitive writing, as in, "I will phone Dr. Nada as least one day
before to cancel or change my appointment." (25 times for a "same-day
cancellation;" 50 times for a "no-show.") Yes, I know it sounds like
being in third grade detention, but since I'm not allowed to charge you a financial
penalty, these are the only consequences I could come up with.
Most therapists will simply tell you not to come back at all, if
you repeatedly miss appointments. I have never asked anyone to leave.
As long as you're willing to pay the penalty, I'm willing to continue
seeing you. I will make three attempts at phoning you, after a
"same-day cancellation" or "no-show." If I can't get in touch with you,
or you don't call back, I will contact you, asking if you intend
to return.
If, however, after one month, you have not replied to me or paid the penalty, I must assume that you have chosen not to return, and I will close your file. You are welcomed to come back at any time in the future--once you have paid your penalty.
No Refund There is no refund for pre-paid Group sessions that you miss, even if you give prior notice. So please don't miss any!
No Charge For short phone
consultations (under five minutes) or for phone contact involving
scheduling, cancellations or changes of appointment. If you need more than five minutes, make an appointment to
come in and see me.
Professional-To-Professional Phone Consultation Fee
No Charge Your doctor or other health care provider may
wish to speak with me on the phone, or I may wish to speak with him or her.
Your co-payments and/or co-insurance for your initial individual session and the first few subsequent sessions are due after I
receive the first payment from your insurance company.
At that time, your insurance company will send you and me a statement
that specifies exactly what your co-payment and/or co-insurance is.
Once the amont of your co-payment and/or co-insurance is known for sure, payment is due at the end of each subsequent appointment. It is important not to let these mount up over time. You may mail your payment or bring it beforehand at the time of your in-person appointment.
If you forget to bring your payment, I will remind you once. If you forget to bring it to your next appointment, no further appointments can be scheduled until you have caught up in your payments.
For a group therapy series, payment in full is due at least one day before
the first group meeting. You may mail in your payment or bring it in
person. Partial payments for attending only a
few sessions of the complete series are not accepted, nor are payments on a
per-meeting basis. After the group series
is over, you will want to submit a claim form to your insurance company, so
that you may be reimbursed for the sessions you have attended. I will be
glad to fill out my portion of the claim form.
For ongoing, open-ended groups, your co-payment and/or co-insurance is due at the end of each group therapy session.
Either cash or personal checks are accepted. Credit cards are not. Do not send cash in the mail. For bookkeeping reasons, I ask that you please pay in exact amounts.
Nada Mangialetti, Ph.D.
DrNada@KapoleiCounseling.com
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