Therapist billing services

The fundamentals

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 forbids private insurers from discriminating against individuals with mental health diagnoses or providers of mental health services. All in all, safety net providers should now cover psychological wellness care similarly that they cover actual medical services. This regulation expects to grow admittance to emotional wellness care. It also gives therapists a better chance of making a living, allowing them to help clients who can’t afford insurance on their own.

What you need to know about how to bill insurance for therapy sessions is in the following.

GETTING CREDENTIALED WITH INSURANCE COMPANIES Therapist billing services are added to an insurer’s provider panel through medical credentialing. Without insurance credentialing, therapists cannot bill insurance directly. The client, on the other hand, must apply to the insurer for reimbursement. The client may be required to complete numerous steps before reimbursement is guaranteed. In the meantime, the client is responsible for paying the bill, which may cause a client to attend therapy less frequently due to the financial burden.

There are four main steps in credentialing:

Make a list of the businesses that you want to be authorized to work for. In the United States, where there are hundreds of insurers, It is best to select the largest insurers in your area. You might also want to inquire about other therapists’ experiences working with particular insurance companies. Some might make the credentialing process simpler or make higher payments available.

Apply to join the insurer’s provider panel. On their website, most insurers provide an application. Numerous guarantors will then, at that point, give you a CAQH number, which will permit you to finish up a CAQH application.

Complete the application for the Council for Affordable and Quality Healthcare (CAQH). The CAQH application is required by the major insurers for their credentialing process. You won’t be able to finish the CAQH application until you apply for credentialing with the insurance company and get a CAQH number. The application will then be sent to the insurance company by CAQH.

Contact each insurer you apply to and follow up. The approval process can take several months, and you may be required to provide additional information. By following up, you can be sure to find out as soon as possible about any application issues.

You will be required to re-attest the information in your CAQH application every quarter following its acceptance. To ensure that you do not lose your credential, keep an eye on your email for notices from CAQH.

COMPLETING INSURANCE PAPER: –

You require to use the paperwork from the provider to bill your insurance for each treatment session. The insurer will give you a comprehensive billing guide as soon as you are accepted onto a provider panel. It will also tell you which services are covered and how much they cost.

You will need to select the appropriate Current Procedure Terminology (CPT) code to properly bill for mental health services. The right billing code is not only determined by the procedure itself but also by how long it took.

Common therapy CPT codes include the following:

90832:Psychotherapy for 30 minutes
90839:Crisis psychotherapy for 60 minutes
90847:Family therapy for 50 minutes with the primary client present
90853:Psychotherapy in groups
96132:Services for neuropsychological testing, like tests for ADHD or dementia.

The most recent CPT manual from the Medical Billing Company has the most recent billing codes. Make sure you have one and use it as your guide. Online billing guides may contain incorrect codes or are out of date. The codes you used in the past may be no longer valid, especially if it’s been a while since you used them.

To guarantee a brief installment, it means a lot to charge for the legitimate strategy. An audit, deferred payment, or even removal from a provider panel are all consequences of consistently incorrect coding. Keep documentation for each visit so that you can back up your billing claims. Insurers may occasionally ask for more documentation.

Getting Paid for Insurance There are a lot of things that can make or break how long it takes to get paid for insurance.

The following are some methods that can guarantee that you get paid as soon as possible:

Talking about insurance policies with your customers. With new clients, confirm insurance coverage and reimbursement rates. Request that people inform you if they change insurance companies.

Assisting your customers with insurance reimbursement. When a client reaches their deductible, many insurers stop providing coverage. This should be discussed with your client during the first session of therapy so that they are aware that they may have to pay for some sessions out of their pocket. Make sure your client knows about COBRA benefits if they change jobs. These benefits will cover therapy while your client looks for a new job.