FAQs

Many people have questions about the cost of therapy, and whether or not it can be affordable.

We are an out of network practice.  Our rates vary by clinician, but are comparable to the average cost of psychotherapy in DC.  We offer convenient credit card (or FSA/HSA card) billing, which is particularly helpful to clients submitting claims to insurance for reimbursement, or whose therapy costs are covered by a family member.  Our online patient portal makes it easy for you to access the documents you need for insurance reimbursement securely and at your convenience.  With appropriate approvals, we also offer secure access to billing and reimbursement documents for designated family members, such as the parents of college students and young adults on family health insurance plans.

+ How can I determine my mental health coverage?

Thanks to the Mental Health Parity Act, your health insurance is required to provide comparable coverage for both mental and physical health concerns. As long as your health insurance plan covers out of network services, it should cover a portion of your therapy. While it can be intimidating to start therapy and navigate coverage for the first time, the majority of our clients receive insurance reimbursements within a few weeks and with little difficulty. If you are able to use funds in a flexible spending (FSA) or health savings account (HSA), you save approximately an additional 30% by using pre-tax dollars to pay for your healthcare costs.

The easiest way to determine your benefits is to call the customer service number on the back of your insurance card and ask the following questions:

  • What is my out of network coverage for CPT code 90834 (45-minute individual psychotherapy)?
  • Is there an out of network deductible that I need to meet before reimbursements apply?
  • How do I submit claims for reimbursement?
  • What is the usual reimbursement processing time?
  • Do I have a flex spending or health savings account that I can use for further savings?

If you have difficulty determining your coverage or other questions regarding affordability, please contact us for assistance and we would be happy to help you.

If you do not have health insurance, or have decided against submitting claims to your insurance for reimbursement, please let us know. We will provide the "Good Faith Estimate" document as required by the 2020 No Surprises Act.

+ I am submitting a claim to insurance for reimbursement. How do I access the necessary documents from your practice?

When submitting claims to insurance for reimbursement, you will need your "superbill,” also called Statements for Insurance Reimbursement. This document includes the diagnosis and treatment codes required by insurance to process your claims. Superbills are automatically generated by our patient portal on the first of each month and contain a month's worth of sessions per document.  You can access them at any time by logging into your patient portal, navigating to the Billing & Payments Section, and downloading the Statements for Insurance Reimbursement (please note that superbills are not currently available on the app and can only be accessed on a computer or web browser due to limitations from the developer).

It is important to note our system also generates "invoices" that serve as your receipt for each individual credit card charge. These do not include the diagnosis code required by insurance and are generally not sufficient for insurance purposes.

If you have questions regarding access to your superbills, please contact us at hello@drdawnjohnson.com

+ I am the family member of a client, and need documentation to submit for insurance reimbursement.  How can I access this?

We recommend having the patient download the Statements for Insurance Reimbursement (superbills) from the patient portal and share them with you.  Please see the instructions above.

Due to healthcare privacy laws, we are prohibited from sharing any information regarding a client with outside parties unless we have a signed release of information.  This includes billing and attendance information, regardless of the payor. Thank you for your understanding.