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Email template to ask a mental health clinic if they accept your insurance

You have a therapist or clinic in mind and you want to use your health insurance to pay. The catch is that "we accept Blue Cross" can mean several things. Being in network means the clinic has a contract with your insurer and you pay only your copay or your share after the deductible. Out of network means you may pay the full fee up front and try to get part of it back. Insurer directories are famously out of date, and a phone answer is easy to get wrong. An email with your exact plan name gets you a clear yes or no, in writing, before your first session, which is when billing surprises usually start.

Before you send

  • Your insurance card. You need the insurer name, the exact plan name (for example a PPO versus an HMO from the same insurer), and the member ID.
  • Whether your plan requires a referral from your primary doctor before seeing a specialist. HMO plans often do.
  • The name of the specific therapist you want to see, not just the clinic. A clinic can be in network while an individual therapist there is not.
  • A call to the number on the back of your card to ask about your mental health copay and deductible, so you can check the clinic's answer against the insurer's.
  • Whether you want in-person or video sessions, since some plans cover them differently.
Subject Do you accept [insurer and plan name]? 
Hi [clinic name] team,

I'd like to start seeing [therapist name, or a therapist at your clinic] and want to confirm coverage before booking.

My insurance is [insurer name], plan [exact plan name from the card], member ID [member ID]. Could you tell me:

- Whether [therapist name or your clinic] is in network with this specific plan
- What my cost per session would be, whether a copay or a share of the fee after my deductible
- Whether you need a referral or prior authorization from my plan before the first visit
- Whether video sessions are billed the same as in-person

If you are not in network, please let me know your out-of-network fee and whether you provide a superbill, which is the itemized receipt I would need to file a claim myself.

I'm hoping to book for [timeframe], so a reply this week would be a big help.

Thank you,
[Your name]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • A good answer names your plan and says "in network" or "out of network" plainly, with a per-session cost. "We take most insurance" is not an answer; reply and ask again with the plan name.
  • Once the clinic says yes, call your insurer and confirm the same thing. If the two disagree, the insurer's answer is the one that decides what you pay.
  • If the clinic only replied by phone, ask for the answer by email too. A written reply is worth keeping if a bill later comes back higher.
  • If the clinic is out of network and the fee is too high, ask your insurer for a list of in-network therapists who are accepting new patients.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Check whether a clinic takes my insurance 
Hi StandIn,

Please confirm whether a mental health clinic is in network with my insurance and what I'd pay per session.

The clinic and therapist: [names and contact info].
My insurance: [insurer, exact plan name, member ID].
Referral status: [I have one / I don't know if I need one].
Session format: [in person / video].
When I want to start: [timeframe].

Get the answer from the clinic in writing, and if they are out of network or unclear, ask them for the self-pay fee and find two or three nearby clinics that are in network and taking new patients.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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