Colleyville Psychiatric Associates and Dr. Cole are not in-network with any insurance provider. As a result, you will be responsible for the full cost of each visit. If you have health insurance coverage, however, you may be able to request reimbursement from your insurance provider for out-of-network care depending on the benefits of your particular insurance plan. In most cases, a significant portion of out-of-network fees are reimbursed by insurance companies. Dr. Cole will provide you with the paperwork necessary to request reimbursement, including a superbill and receipt for payment.
All services at Colleyville Psychiatric Associates are provided at a flat rate of $300/hour:
- Initial psychiatric evaluation – 75 minutes – $375
- Medication management visits
- 15 minutes – $75
- 30 minutes – $150
- 45 minutes – $225
- Psychotherapy appointment – 50 minutes – $300 (with or without medication management)
Dr. Cole has a limited number of reduced fee appointment slots available for those interested in pursuing psychoanalytic treatment. Please e-mail Dr. Cole if you are interested in possibly being seen for a reduced fee.
For medication management visits, fees are due at each appointment and will be charged to the credit card on file or another payment method after the appointment. For psychotherapy visits, fees will be billed monthly and are due by the 15th of the following month unless alternate arrangements have been made.
Fees can be paid with cash, check, or credit card, either in the office or using the practice’s patient portal.
Why don’t you take insurance?
While health insurance reduces the up-front cost of care, this benefit comes with several costs to both you and me:
- A loss of privacy surrounding your care. Clinicians are contractually obligated to provide the insurance company with your health information to verify “medical necessity” and to comply with billing audits. Your health information and treatment are never truly private.
- An uninvolved third party, who has never seen nor spoken to you, can determine if you “need” ongoing treatment. Insurance companies often use arbitrary and impersonal criteria to decide if ongoing treatment will be covered, introducing uncertainty into the treatment. In addition to increasing the costs to you – if, for example, your treatment is not deemed “medically necessary” – these determinations require the clinician to spend time justifying the importance of your treatment to someone who has never met you, may not have any experience or expertise in mental health treatment, and may not be a practicing clinician. By working together directly to determine the fee and a treatment plan, the people that matter most in your treatment – you and me – determine the need for ongoing treatment.
- Uncertainty surrounding the cost of care for both the clinician and patient. Insurance benefits are complicated, and it is extremely difficult for the most well-meaning clinician to provide an accurate estimate of the out-of-pocket cost for a visit. Factors outside of the control of both parties can also result in changes in the cost of care over time. Transparency in the cost of treatment – without relying on another party to pay those costs – makes the cost of treatment predictable.
- A lack of flexibility regarding the cost of treatment. Clinicians are contractually obligated to charge their patients pre-determined amounts for each visit depending on that patient’s insurance benefits. As a result, there is no freedom to develop alternate payment arrangements if needed (for example, if unexpected financial hardship occurs).
- In some cases, self-paying for care can be cheaper! Our rates are approximately equivalent to what insurance companies pay providers for visits and, in some cases, lower. If you have a high-deductible plan or are responsible for a significant portion of the cost of your care under your insurance plan, self-paying may cost you less over the long-term compared to using your insurance benefits.
If you have any questions about our fees or cost of treatment, please contact us.
How do I request out-of-network reimbursement for my care?
Each insurance company has a slightly different process for requesting reimbursement for out-of-network care. Generally speaking, most insurance companies require you to submit the following to process an out-of-network claim:
- An out-of-network reimbursement request form – links to these forms for large insurance companies within Texas are provided below. These forms are specific to each insurance company and include instructions for completing and submitting the form to them.
- A superbill – this is generated by the clinician and includes all of the necessary information that the insurance company needs to process your claim. Dr. Cole automatically sends monthly superbills that include the necessary information for all visits that occurred during the previous month via e-mail.
- A receipt for payment – you will receive a receipt for all payments that you make at the time the payment is made. Dr. Cole also automatically sends itemized monthly statements that show all fees that were charged and payments that were made during the previous month, which can be used in lieu of individual receipts, via e-mail.
Once you send these forms to your insurance company, the insurance company will process your claim. Most insurance companies allow you to request reimbursement for out-of-network care up to 12 months after the care was provided. Once your claim is processed, the insurance company will mail you a check for reimbursement. Every insurance plan has different conditions of coverage for out-of-network care. In general, however, most insurance plans will reimburse a significant proportion of the out-of-pocket cost for your care. The plan documents for your specific insurance plan will describe how your plan processes out-of-network claims.
Out-of-network claim forms for some of the largest insurance companies can be accessed here: