Rates & Financial Policies

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

Payments

Payments are accepted at the beginning of each session in by cash, personal check, PayPal, or Venmo (please make checks out to Julia Young). I reserve the right to employ an outside agency to assist in the collection of any outstanding or unpaid balances (which would require me to share your contact information and balance due with the agency).

Rate Adjustments

My rates are reviewed annually and adjusted if necessary based on inflation, costs of the practice, new services offered, or additional credentials obtained.

Insurance

I do not accept insurance; therefore, it is your responsibility to pay the full fee at or before the beginning of each session. It is also your responsibility to ask your insurance company if any reimbursement for my services is available to you based on your specific plan or coverage (my services are considered "out-of-network" mental or behavioral health care costs). Upon request, I can provide you a superbill which you can send to your insurance company as a receipt for services rendered. The superbill will include date(s) of service, relevant billing codes, and insurance-required information about me. Please note that your insurance company might not reimburse any out-of-network mental or behavioral health care costs.

How insurance works and some reasons why I don't accept it

Insurance companies often limit the number of sessions you can attend, try to dictate certain aspects of your treatment, request private clinical information, and require that you be given a psychiatric diagnosis (i.e., a mental disorder or illness). Even though most personal challenges are not the result of a diagnosable mental disorder/illness, insurance companies still require clients to have a psychiatric diagnosis in order to receive any reimbursement for treatment.

This means if you submit a claim for reimbursement, a mental disorder/illness would become part of your permanent medical record. Having a mental disorder/illness on your medical record may cause problems for you later. Job applications, employers, and health, life, and automobile insurance companies often ask, "Have you ever been diagnosed with a mental illness?". Answering this question affirmatively may have an effect on your ability to obtain employment or qualify for future insurance coverage (i.e., your diagnosis might be considered a "pre-existing condition").

By not accepting insurance, I ensure any diagnosis and/or other private personal information shared with me would never need to be divulged to an insurance company (unless you choose to submit claims for reimbursement). Because I do not accept insurance, you will also not be subject to any insurance company reviews of your treatment or progress, nor could anyone but you and I decide on how many sessions you can attend.

DISCLAIMER: California confidentiality laws and regulations, as summarized in my Informed Consent, and on the FAQ page under "Is therapy totally confidential?", supersede any statements regarding releases of information made on this website.