Payments
As a private-pay only counseling service, Omar accepts all major Credit/Debit cards, plus both Flexible Savings Account (FSA) & Healthcare Spending Account (HSA) in the form of a VISA card. Unfortunately, the following forms of payment are not accepted:
a) Cash
b) Check
c) Money Order
d) Health Insurance
TalkThinkThrive, PLLC is a private pay only counseling service, as health insurance is not accepted. To understand why, below are six (6) important reasons it may be in the best interest of clients to pay for services directly, rather than use insurance:
- Privacy – One of Omar’s values is to protect the information you share with him as he understands it to be private. Thus, Omar has chosen to not accept insurance to ensure your privacy is kept 100% confidential, especially from health insurance companies. There are some exceptions to confidentiality, which Omar will explain during your initial session and are listed within the service consent forms.
- Control – When using insurance, they dictate what you can get approved for, how much they are willing to pay, and how often you can receive these services. As the insurance member, the quality of care is limited to what or whom the insurances can offer. When you choose to pay privately, you have control over which service you need, plus the amount of sessions you want for the week at a price point that fits in your budget.
- Limited – Sometimes you may need a provider with specific knowledge, skills or experience as it pertains to helping you with the problem/issue you are dealing with. As a Marriage & Family Therapist, Omar offers expertise around helping those with relationships issues and the impact that it has on one’s mental health. When using insurance, you are limited to working with only generalist providers who are contracted with them, which hinders your ability to work with specialists such as himself.
- Waiting List – Many Massachusetts residents are required to have insurance as part of State Law. As such, many providers who are contracted with insurance tend to have waitlist. This happens because there are so many people who need services but so few providers within the realm of insurance that can render the services. This has created a dilemma in which Omar plans to build TalkThinkThrive into a group practice to eliminate the need for any ongoing waitlist. As soon as you are ready to commit to change, you can make a request for services and receive an immediate intake appointment, either for that same day, later that week, or by the following week.
- Frequency – Even with a top-tier insurance coverage, many services covered under insurance have a cap on how often services can be rendered and received. Many people who need therapy support may want to have more than just one (1) session per week. Sometimes, it may be beneficial to have two, three, or more weekly sessions when you begin services as this may help keep you accountable towards making life long changes. As a sole practitioner, Omar has established flexibility in his practice so that clients can participate in services based on their needs, only subject to available openings in his schedule and clients ability to maintain their financial responsibility to pay for each session.
- Diagnosis – It is mandatory for therapist to provide a mental health diagnosis when using insurance as payment for services. Without a diagnosis, the therapist will not be able to submit a bill for insurance payment reimbursement. However, we found that this practice of diagnosing, from the initial intake, is unfair and unjust to the person seeking out for help. We do acknowledge that for many people, having a diagnosis is helpful to be able to provide a label to what they are struggling with. At the same time, we would rather focus our energy on helping people around the struggles they face instead of focusing on figuring out the symptoms of a diagnosis to justify why the person needs therapy.
Session payments are processed at the end of the day, between 12am to 2am, following your appointment.
Yes. If it is found that the payment system that Omar uses overcharged you, for whatever reason, he will gladly submit a request to refund you the difference. Refunds can only be made with the card that was entered into your individual record, which was used for payment. Refund process may take between 1-3 business days to be redeposited into your account.
No. At the end of your session, payment is expected to be processed. If you are unsatisfied with the services Omar has rendered, you have the right to either
a) Terminate services, at any given time.
b) Make a request from Omar to provide you with a list of other therapists based on your preferences.
c) Contact your Primary Care Physician and ask for a referral with a therapist at your local clinic/hospital.
