Do you have a health benefits plan that includes counselling? If you do, you will get reimbursed for your counselling sessions.
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Do You Have Coverage?
Health coverage is different for every insurance company. Contact your plan administrator to find out what your plan includes. You can also contact your benefits company directly.
Some insurance will pay for counselling services from a registered counsellor. This can include RCC (Registered Clinical Counsellor) and CCC (Canadian Certified Counsellor). Other companies will only cover counselling from a Psychologist or Social Worker. Many workplaces will offer counselling through an EFAP program. Employee and Family Assistance Programs (EFAP) will offer short-term counselling only.
How To Get Reimbursed
The process to get reimbursed by an insurance company will be easy. For example, you will have to mail your receipt or submit it online. Similarly, some companies will have an app so you can submit receipts quickly. Some counsellors will provide direct billing. (However, this is less common.) If your counsellor can bill your insurance directly, you only have to pay the co-pay fee. The co-pay fee is the difference between your coverage and the counsellor's fee.
When your claim is processed, the insurance company will mail a cheque to you. You can also arrange a direct deposit into your account. Similarly, your counselling sessions can be deducted from your health spending account.
Privacy and Confidentiality
No one has access to your counselling file without your consent. Submitting a receipt to insurance doesn't give your insurance company access to your private information. In short, your personal details are very protected in counselling.
If You Don't Have Coverage
Not everyone has mental health coverage. If you don't have counselling coverage, ask your insurer to include it. You might have to upgrade your plan to include counselling.
You can also ask your work to add counselling to your health plan. This is usually an easy upgrade. Keep in mind that your monthly dues might increase if your benefits cost is shared.
I'm a registered counselling provider with many benefits companies. If your health plan currently includes counselling coverage, we can get started very quickly.
