Although I accept many insurance plans, here's some things you should consider if you plan on using your insurance to pay for your mental health treatment: 

Some insurance companies reimburse therapists at a very low rate--typically much lower than the set fee from the clinician. This makes it hard to do good work with clients when your therapist may be worrying about how she is going to pay their bills and sustain their practice.  Insurance companies can also take 30 days or longer to reimburse their providers. Imagine if you did not know when your employer was going to pay you, or even worse, told you after a while they decided they aren't going to pay you. 

Your treatment remains confidential when you do not use insurance. If I am not billing your insurance company, the information about your treatment remains confidential between you and I unless you wish to release that information to another party.

Insurance companies want a lot of information about you and your treatment, and require your therapist to update them on your progress frequently because it is their money after all. Be advised that I would have to speak to a complete stranger on the phone who may or may not be trained in mental health treatment, and who is putting information in their company database about you, and who determines whether or not the therapy is helping you.

I've provided you the aforementioned information so that you can make an informed decision regarding whether or not you want to use your health insurance to pay for psychotherapy services. 

If, however, you are still interested in using your health insurance please check your coverage carefully by asking the following questions of your health insurance company:

• Do I have mental health insurance benefits?
• Do my mental health insurance benefits include teletherapy?
• Is Sharmaine Barnes an "in-network" mental/behavioral health provider under my plan?
• What is my copay?
• What is my deductible and has it been met?
• How many sessions per year does my health insurance cover?
• What is the coverage amount per therapy session?
• Is approval required from my primary care physician?

***Most health plans are authorizing teletherapy services due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, please check with your specific plan to make sure teletherapy or telehealth is a covered benefit. Please be advised that the list of insurance plans I accept is constantly changing because I closed my commercial office and some insurance plans require that I maintain a commercial rather than virtual office in order to remain in their network.***

Insurance Plans Accepted:

Aetna/Aetna EAP

Blue Shield of California

Cascade EAP

Cigna/EAP

Claremont EAP

ComPsych EAP

Concern EAP

Magellan Health/Magellan Health EAP

Health Plan of San Joaquin Medi-Cal

Humana

MHN/HealthNet/EAP

Open Path Collective

Optum/EAP

Networks By Design

Unicare EAP

United Behavioral Healthcare

If you do not see your insurance plan listed, you can contact your insurer to see if you have "out of network" mental health benefits or request that your insurer contact me to discuss a "single-payer agreement."

**Special note to Kaiser Permanente Members... If you would like to receive Christian therapy or other mental health services not provided by Kaiser, you can request authorization to receive these services from me through Kaiser's contract with Magellan or Beacon Health. Call Kaiser Member Services at 1-(855)-268-4096 M-F 8:30 am-5:30 pm for more information.

Payment

Payment for services must be made at the time services are rendered. Visa, MasterCard, American Express or Discover Cards are accepted for payment.

Cancellation Policy

If you do not show up for your scheduled therapy appointment and have not notified me at least 24 hours in advance, you may be required to pay the full cost of the missed teletherapy session.