Using Out-Of-Network Benefits

Repost from 6/14/2018

When many people begin to try to find help for their eating disorder, it’s often a frustrating process.  Many therapists, dietitians, and psychiatrists don’t feel comfortable working with such a complex and high acuity population.  Unfortunately, many who do either work with a limited number of insurance companies, or don’t contract with them at all.  It can feel impossible to find a team of people who can provide support without needing to private pay for everyone.

There’s no easy solution to this, but something people are sometimes surprised by is the ability to use their out-of-network benefits with their health insurance company to see a provider who does not specifically contract with their insurance.

Every insurance plan is unique, so you’ll need to check specifically with your company to see if you have out-of-network benefits, and what the process is for submitting claims for reimbursement.  Are you reading this and thinking, “how do I do that?”  You’re probably not alone!  I’ve created a form that you can use as a guide or actually print out to keep your own notes as you start this process.

Download the form here

If you have the ability to use out-of-network benefits and you’re planning to use them in order to see one or multiple members of your outpatient treatment team, make sure that you let your providers know that you’ll be doing this.  You’ll need to collect specific documentation from providers to submit a claim to your insurance company.

I hope that this information has been helpful as you begin to put together a multidisciplinary team to support you through recovery.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions or words of wisdom from personal experience!