Billing & Insurance

Here's how billing works at Starfish Mental Health.

Fees

Individual Psychotherapy (50 minutes) $250

Couples therapy (80 minutes) $350

If you have Medicare

I’m a participating traditional Medicare provider, which means I bill Medicare directly for our sessions. There’s nothing for you to file, submit, or follow up on. You’re responsible only for any applicable coinsurance or deductible, and I’ll make sure you know what to expect before we begin.

Please note that I do not accept “Medicare Advantage” plans (also known as Part C plans).

If you’re using private insurance

For all other clients, my practice is private pay, and you’ll always know your session fee up front — no surprises.

Many private plans include out-of-network benefits that reimburse a portion of each session, often a meaningful one. To make using those benefits as effortless as possible, I’ve partnered with Mentaya, a service that takes the insurance paperwork off your plate entirely.

Mentaya may be a good fit if you:

• Have out-of-network benefits

• Feel overwhelmed by superbills and insurance forms

• Have tried submitting claims before and never saw a reimbursement

• Simply want to skip the hassle

Here’s how it works: after each session, I enter the visit into Mentaya, and they submit the claim and handle any follow-up with your insurer — including denials and the phone calls. You pay your session fee at the time of our appointment, as usual, and your reimbursement comes back to you directly, typically within a few weeks.

Mentaya’s fee is 5% per claim, which covers all of the paperwork, any back-and-forth over denials, and calls to your insurance company. It’s risk-free: they guarantee your claims are submitted successfully, or they refund their fee in full. To file on your behalf, they’ll need a few basic details — your name, date of birth, and diagnosis.

Using Mentaya is entirely optional,and I want to be clear that I don’t receive anything for recommending them. It’s simply the smoothest path I’ve found to help you get back what your plan allows.

Before we begin

If you’d like to use your out-of-network benefits, it helps to know what your plan offers before we start. Mentaya can run a quick eligibility check that estimates your out-of-network coverage and likely reimbursement — often a good place to begin. You’re also always welcome to call the member services number on the back of your card and ask whether your plan includes out-of-network coverage for outpatient mental health, whether you have an out-of-network deductible, and how much of it you’ve met this year. Either way, you’ll have a clearer picture of what to expect.

I’m always glad to help you make sense of what you learn. Your benefits are ultimately an agreement between you and your insurance company — they hold the details of your particular plan and set your reimbursement — so staying in touch with them is the surest way to know where you stand. And if a question ever comes up about a claim or a bill, just ask. This is part of your care, not separate from it.

Still have questions?

Ask me. The financial side of therapy shouldn't be something you have to figure out alone, and no question about it is too small.