Mental Health Insurance Evaluations in California
Seeking professional help offers the best path forward for people struggling with mental health disorders. When you start searching for mental health care, however, you may already find it difficult to function. As a result, trying to track down a provider that meets your needs can feel overwhelming.
Health insurance is infamously complex and confusing. If this is your first time getting help for a mental health disorder, you might struggle to understand the benefits your insurance provides. At Advanced Psychiatry Associates, we want our patients to focus on recovery without worrying about surprise costs.
We provide mental health insurance evaluations to determine which of our services your insurance will cover and to give you a clear understanding of your payment options. We’ll keep our explanations simple and straightforward.
How Does Insurance Work for Mental Health Care?
Strong mental health is essential to a person’s overall well-being. Getting treatment for mental health disorders can help people live happier, healthier lives. Unfortunately, insurance companies have not always prioritized coverage for mental health care, placing limits on mental health visits and making even common treatments like talk therapy prohibitively expensive.
To prevent insurers from setting unfair limits and costs on mental health services, lawmakers in the United States passed the Mental Health Parity Act. Although this law does not require all insurance plans to cover mental health care and substance abuse treatment, it does require plans that do to provide a level of coverage equal to the coverage provided for physical health care.
This means your insurance provider cannot cap the number of mental health visits you are allowed to have or impose a separate deductible or higher copay for mental health services.
Despite laws designed to protect patients, some people still find their health insurance coverage inadequate. If you don’t have health insurance or have a health insurance plan that doesn’t cover mental health care, you still have options for treatment. Some employers offer assistance programs for workers, and many schools and universities offer counseling services. You can also look to local nonprofits and social services for help at a reduced cost.
Making the Most of Your Insurance Benefits
If you do have insurance coverage for mental health care, we want to help minimize your out-of-pocket costs. While you work toward improving your mental health, we’ll work with your insurance company to ensure you receive as much reimbursement as possible.
Our insurance evaluations for mental health coverage help us identify the types of treatment your insurance will cover and determine the most affordable combination of services for your situation.
Request a Mental Health Insurance Evaluation
At Advanced Psychiatry Associates, we accept insurance from all major providers, including Medicare and health maintenance organizations. We also accept reimbursement through Social Security, Workers’ Compensation and cash pay. To request an insurance evaluation or learn about the treatment services we offer patients in Northern and Southern California, call one of our nine locations or fill out our online contact form today.