Policies & FAQs

You may not get approved for the sessions you need
Insurance companies regulate how many sessions they will cover for a client, without regard for how frequently or how long a client may need to be seen. They don’t know your individual needs in a therapy session or what will work best for your family, their focus is on the monetary numbers.

Your or your child’s privacy is lost with a mandatory diagnosis
Since we do not accept insurance, our clients are afforded full privacy during the therapeutic process. We are not obligated to provide the insurance company with information regarding your mental health, including a diagnosis. Insurance companies require therapists to provide a mental health diagnosis for all mental health claims submitted in order for them to possibly be covered, even for children. Thrive Therapy feels it’s critical to provide parents with this information regarding mental health diagnosis being permanent on their child’s health records. We have seen many times clients choose to use their insurance benefits for mental health services and their child’s private health information is provided to the insurance company, including a diagnosis, for them to only be approved for a hand full of sessions, or not at all.

The majority of Thrive Therapy’s clients are not struggling with a mental illness. Our clients may have come to us for support and to acquire new skills or strategies for the changes happening in their lives. For example, insurance will not cover support services in relation to divorce, communication, parent education, and/or grief unless accompanied by a diagnosis.

You lose your ability to choose your therapist based on specialty
We find it important for you to have the choice of seeing a therapist that you choose instead of having to pick from a panel of therapist on your insurance plan that may not have the expertise you are needing. The therapist at Thrive Therapy have 12 years of combined experience in the specializations of play therapy, EMDR, trauma, mood disorders, and behavioral concerns that add great value to your dollars spent. Our referrals do not come from insurance companies. Families choose Thrive Therapy because of our reputation of providing high quality services.

Insurances may pay upfront initially, however may request you reimburse them
If you use your insurance benefits, the insurance company may not cover services, causing you to foot an unexpected bill. In addition, we have seen insurance companies initially pay out for your services, but to then come back months later to the client and request reimbursement due to not paying out in accordance to your plan or because you have secondary health insurance they feel should be paying instead.

Out-of-Network Reimbursement

Many insurance policies may reimburse for out-of-network therapists, but only after your deductible has been met. We would be happy to provide you with an invoice if you choose to request reimbursement from your insurance company. You would be responsible for paying for services in full upfront and then can submit to your insurance for reimbursement. Once again, your insurance company will not process your claim for reimbursement without a diagnosis of a mental disorder. For more information on how out-of-network billing works, check out our FAQs page.

Limitation of Services

We offer outpatient psychotherapy, consultation, and educational services only. This practice is not geared to aid in the case of emergency. While we do maintain an after-hours voicemail service, this does not guarantee the availability of emergency psychotherapy coverage. Should you require emergency services after hours, please call 911 or go to your nearest hospital. For after hours mental health resources in Lee County, call SalusCare at (239) 275-3222. For Collier County, call David Lawrence Center at (239) 455-8500.

What is "balance billing" (sometimes called "suprise billing")?

When you see a doctor or other health care provider, you may owe certain out-of-pocket costs, such as a copayment, coinsurance, and/or a deductible. You may have other costs or have to pay the entire bill if you see a provider or visit a health care facility that isn’t in your health plan’s network.

“Out-of-network” describes providers and facilities that haven’t signed a contract with your health plan. Out-of-network providers may be permitted to bill you for the difference between what your plan agreed to pay and the full amount charged for a service. This is called “balance billing.” This amount is likely more than in-network costs for the same service and might not count toward your annual out-of-pocket limit.

“Surprise billing” is an unexpected balance bill. This can happen when you can’t control who is involved in your care - like when you have an emergency or when you schedule a visit at an in-network facility but are unexpectedly treated by an out-of-network provider.

You are protected from balance billing for:

Emergency services

If you have an emergency medical condition and get emergency services from an out-of-network provider or facility, the most the provider or facility may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount (such as copayments and coinsurance). You can’t be balance billed for these emergency services. This includes services you may get after you’re in stable condition, unless you give written consent and give up your protections not to be balanced billed for these post-stabilization services.

Certain services at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center

When you get services from an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center, certain providers there may be out-of-network. In these cases, the most those providers may bill you is your plan’s in-network cost-sharing amount. This applies to emergency medicine, anesthesia, pathology, radiology, laboratory, neonatology, assistant surgeon, hospitalist, or intensivist services. These providers can’t balance bill you and may not ask you to give up your protections not to be balance billed.

If you get other services at these in-network facilities, out-of-network providers can’t balance bill you unless you give written consent and give up your protections.

You’re never required to give up your protection from balance billing. You also aren’t required to get care out-of-network. You can choose a provider or facility in your plan’s network.

When balance billing isn't allowed, you also have the following protections:

• You are only responsible for paying your share of the cost (like the copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles that you would pay if the provider or facility was in-network). Your health plan will pay out-of-network providers and facilities directly.
• Your health plan generally must:
  • Cover emergency services without requiring you to get approval for services in advance (prior authorization).
  • Cover emergency services by out-of-network providers.
  • Base what you owe the provider or facility (cost-sharing) on what it would pay an in-network provider or facility and show that amount in your explanation of benefits.
  • Count any amount you pay for emergency services or out-of-network services toward your deductible and out-of-pocket limit.

If you believe you’ve been wrongly billed, you may contact:

Florida Secretary of State
P. O. Box 6327
Tallahassee, FL 32314
850.245.6000
850.245.6014 (fax)

Visit https://www.cms.gov/files/document/model-disclosure-notice-patient-protections-against-surprise-billing-providers-facilities-health.pdf for more information about your rights under Federal law.

So What’s the Big Deal?

Having a cancellation policy is very important for your success in treatment and our counseling practice for several reasons including;

Commitment and Consistency Benefits the Therapeutic Relationship
Starting counseling can be an emotional and confusing time, so setting up expectations for commitment from the start is beneficial to your treatment success. At Thrive, you know what to expect when you attend sessions with us and know that our services are consistent across our practice. Therapy tends to be most helpful to people who view their appointments as an important and valuable component to their lives or their child’s lives.

Consistency is key to counseling. Clients who make counseling a priority and attend regular sessions in alignment with their treatment plan generally experience quicker and more lasting positive change in their lives. Building a foundation of trust with your therapist can take time. Clients who miss appointments break the momentum that they’ve gained with their therapist. We also believe that consistency results in longer-lasting, positive outcomes for our clients.

Healthy Boundaries Promote Growth
Our cancellation policy is not a penalty or a punishment. The vast majority of our clients understand that enforcing the policy is meant to help maintain healthy boundaries. People feel safe with boundaries, people build trust with healthy boundaries. We want to send the message that we follow through with the policy we have clearly set in advanced and do what we say we will. You want to know that your therapist is honest and takes your treatment seriously. Feeling safe in the therapeutic relationship helps facilitate an environment for growth.

It’s Your Session Slot
We strive to schedule sessions consistently at the same time, same day, each week to help you with scheduling your life and other commitments. Having your specific time slot helps minimize the likely hood of you having a scheduling conflict or forgetting about your appointment, thus less likely for the cancelation fee to be charged. We understand that life happens; you’ll need to work late, you’ll get a sudden onset of the flu, your car will break down, or something unavoidable will come up. We are never upset with clients when they miss an appointment and we know it happens. In return, our clients understand that scheduling an appointment is like buying tickets to an event. If you miss the event, it doesn’t matter why you missed it, or even if it was your first time, you cannot turn in your tickets for a refund.

Missed Productivity Time
When a client cancels late or no shows we miss the opportunity to use that time productively. We could be home with our families, grabbing lunch, or catching up on other work. Instead the therapist spends time during the slot you may have no showed trying to check in and see if you are ok or waiting to see if you will show up.

Sessions Are Preplanned
Our therapist are thinking about you and your care outside of your actual session by getting activities and resources prepared well in advanced. We do not just sit down with clients for their scheduled slots and wing it. The mental health counseling relationship is unique in comparison to other medical doctors where there may be minimal prep-work for the individual patient seen prior to their appointment. While a medical doctor can see 35 patients in a day, a full time therapist generally sees approximately 20-25 clients in an entire week. If a client cancels with less than a full 48 hours notice, we will not be able to fill that time slot and lose an entire hour of work from our schedule and all of the preplanning goes uncompensated.

Therapy is Also A Financial Commitment
Clients who are truly committed to receiving the highest quality care should be financially committed to seeing their treatment plan through from start to finish. Habitually canceling or not showing for your appointments doesn’t get you the best “bang for your buck” in terms of progress for the financial investment. Our therapists have extensive experience in working in the mental health field. They also have special credentials in highly sought-after modalities that they’ve completed additional training to master. There is a direct connection between the rates we charge and the quality of services that you receive.

Full Rate Instead of Partial Rate
We charge the full session rate to ensure that you remain committed to the therapy process. Charging a reduced fee makes it easier to be less committed to the therapeutic process because it’s not as big of a “financial hit”. Some clients weigh out a reduced cancel fee as a “throw away” amount of money, especially when they don’t feel up to attending session or it may feel inconvenient that day to stay committed to attendance. A reduced cancelation fee has been shown to cause clients to be more likely to cancel or no show and this ultimately impacts your progress through treatment in a timely manner.

We Have A Waitlist
Thrive Therapy is recognized as a high quality and sought after practice for treatment. We consistently have a waitlist of adults and children needing services in our area. Enforcing our cancelation policy allows for clients needing services to receive them. You wouldn’t want to stay on the waitlist for months while other clients are not committed to treatment and taking up valuable time that you could be getting help for yourself or child. Many of your fellow residents who need our help are unable to receive the care that they so desperately need when you don’t show up to your appointment or cancel your session with less than 48 business hours notice. It pains us to know that this is the case and others miss out.

Practice Expenses Don’t Change
You should understand that our overhead expenses don’t decrease if a client chooses not to attend their appointment. Overhead expenses remain the same regardless of whether a client shows up for their appointment or not. We’re still obligated to pay our rent/mortgage, utilities, insurance, our therapists’ salaries, and other expenses for every appointment that we have available and our doors are open.

The costs associated with running a private practice like Thrive Therapy are significant. We offer high-quality services and personalized care. Larger mental health agencies treat clients more like a number instead of as a person.
Having habitual late client cancelations or no shows drastically impacts our ability to provide personalized treatment in a private practice setting.

We very much appreciate you putting your trust in us to care for you or your child here at Thrive Therapy! We thank you in advance for understanding how our cancellation policy is aimed at protecting you and your therapists’ respective interests. If you have any further questions or concerns we would be happy to address them. Thank you for understanding!