The requirement to provide a Good Faith Estimate for healthcare services came into law on January 1, 2022.
The intention of the law is to prevent patients from being surprised by unknown and excessive medical charges, especially when they are charged out-of-network prices when they expect in-network charges covered by their insurance.
For the specific field of Mental Health Counseling offered here, which is paid for on a per-session basis, the fee situation is quite straightforward, with little chance for misunderstanding and no hidden fees.
- My fee is $140 per 50-minute session.
- In brief: 8 sessions is $1120, 12 sessions is $1680, 24 sessions is $3360, 50 sessions is $7000, and so forth.
- The number of sessions per client will vary, with 10-20 being a reasonable expectation at the outset. For more specific information about how and why the number of sessions vary, see here.
- However, clients can benefit from as little as one session, and decision about the length of service occurs over time, in collaboration between client and counselor.
- Each session is paid day of session or before; there are nominal fees for late cancelations and no-shows. Any extra fees, for example in rare cases for special paperwork, are paid at the same rate ($140/hr.) and will be discussed beforehand.
For more detail, here is an example of a sample Good Faith Estimate that I provide my clients.