Your go-to guide for everything billing
As a virtual therapy provider, we know that the billing side of things can sometimes feel confusing. To help, we’re breaking down everything billing—from understanding your coverage to the invoices you receive after sessions and everything in between. By making our practices transparent and policies easy to find, you can focus more on getting the treatment you need and worry less about the legwork.
Table of contents
Your billing journey with us
Accessing specialized care for OCD and related conditions begins with a quick, free phone call so that we can match you with a specialized OCD therapist who is licensed in your state and able to meet your specific needs. It’s on this call that we get started with verifying any insurance you plan to use for treatment. Below we show what happens at each step when using insurance for therapy at NOCD. We also make paying cash for treatment as affordable as possible and offer an interest-free payment plan, but more on that later.
Upload your insurance and credit card, safely and securely
On your first call with us, you’ll be asked to share your insurance card and add a credit card to keep on file for future billing needs, such as copays. We always let you know before any charges are made.
Book a session and we verify your coverage
We’ll match you with the right therapist and start the process of verifying your individual behavioral health benefits. After we confirm that your insurance plan is in-network we reach back out to update you.
Begin therapy and your session gets processed by your insurer
Once you’ve completed your first session with your therapist, we’ll submit it to your insurance company.
We’ll share what your insurance covers for each session
Your health plan will get back to us with what they’ll cover and the amount you’ll be responsible for, if anything.
Get notified before any charges are due
We’ll send you an email with any amount you’ll owe, such as a copay, before charging you.
As you continue on with your treatment, you can always visit your billing dashboard to check the status of session invoices, view your account balance, and update your billing information.
Visit your billing dashboard
Create an account or login to see your session invoices, current balances, and billing information.
Insurance 101: coverage explained
To make specialized care for OCD and related conditions as accessible and affordable as possible, we partner with leading insurance companies and work closely with them to support your mental health. With many plans, your behavioral health benefits differ from your medical coverage. Before your first therapy session, we verify your individual plan’s behavioral health coverage as in-network or out-of-network. For in-network insurance, according to your specific benefits, there may still be an amount you are responsible for.
Components of coverage
Coverage for therapy such as telehealth sessions at NOCD varies by your individual plan’s details. The components that work together to determine how much your insurance will cover are deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance. For example, if you haven‘t met your deductible yet, you may be responsible for a higher portion of the cost. The exact amount your insurance will cover and how much will be your responsibility is clearly detailed in the invoice created after your first session has been processed by insurance.
To best understand what you’ll personally be responsible for under your specific plan, we encourage you to contact your insurance directly before your first session. Digging deeper into the components at play can help prepare you for having this conversation.
Deductible
Your out-of-pocket responsibility for treatment before your insurance plan covers the costs. Deductibles can restart at set times each year, so it’s good to check yours.
Copay
A fixed amount that you are responsible for paying each session, regardless of the type of session or how long it lasts. This applies after any deductibles have been met.
Coinsurance
The percentage of the cost you pay for covered services. Coinsurance divides up the cost between you and your plan. This applies after any deductibles have been met.
In-network
This means we have a discounted, contracted rate with your insurance. What you’ll owe for any given service is based on your individual behavioral benefits.
Out-of-network
This means we don’t have a special agreement with your insurance. Cash pay or exploring an interest-free payment plan may be the best options for starting therapy.
Learn more about insurance coverage
Here’s a resource you can use to learn more about terms and see scenarios for how insurance coverage works.
Insurance isn’t the only option
When it comes to connecting you with the care you need and deserve, we know you may need options that make treatment affordable beyond using insurance.
Cash pricing
We offer cash pay prices to make our specialty treatment affordable and believe in sharing these rates upfront. Once you book a free call with our team and sign up for a first therapy session, you’ll receive a Good Faith Estimate that lists all of our cash pay prices. Not ready to book yet? That’s okay, if you request it, our team is happy to send you a Good Faith Estimate of our current session costs. Our goal is to make these prices lower than standard ERP therapy, which is known to cost between $250-$500 per session and doesn’t include messaging, tools, or support between sessions.
Interest-free payment plan
Our interest-free payment plan is designed to bring some flexibility into when and how you pay for therapy. It doesn’t reduce the cost of sessions, but it gives you the option to pay a predictable amount of $95 per week and slowly pay off your balance over time - just like a new smartphone. It allows for Members to get their clinically recommended amount of sessions upfront while keeping the costs predictable.
Start by finding the right therapist
Browse our directory to see which insurance plans are in-network for each one of our therapists.
Easy access to our policies
Think of our policies as your safety net. They are in place to set expectations and eliminate surprises so you and your therapist can have a great experience working together. They cover important details about how treatment works and serve as helpful references for when you’re needing to check on something, like how to reschedule a session. Here’s more on our policies below. If you’re already a therapy member, you can log in to your account and find them under My Documents.
Good Faith Estimate
The Good Faith Estimate details the cash payment rates for services you may need for your healthcare. These rates apply specifically to individuals who are not using insurance to cover their healthcare costs. NOCD is committed to transparency and to making our therapy as affordable as possible. We always send our Good Faith Estimate before your first therapy session, so you can keep it handy and look it over if you choose.
Your legal rights to a Good Faith Estimate:
- You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency services.
- Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing before your service. You can also ask your health care provider for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule a service.
- If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or email billing@nocdhelp.com
Payment agreement
Your payment agreement is something that you sign at the start of treatment and helps both you and your therapist. A payment agreement is crucial before starting therapy as it establishes clear expectations regarding payment terms, such as fees, insurance coverage, and cancellations. This agreement ensures transparency and trust between you and your therapist, allowing both of you to focus on your time together in session without financial concerns becoming a distraction. It also helps to prevent misunderstandings and potential conflicts down the line.
Your signed payment agreement is required prior to starting therapy. Once your sessions have been processed, any responsibility on your part will be posted to the billing section of your account and you’ll be notified by us before we charge you for any amount you owe.
Consent to treatment
Your consent to treatment is a document that you sign at the beginning of your journey with us. Giving consent at the start of therapy is important for a number of reasons.
Respect for you
It‘s all about respecting your right to make decisions about your own treatment. Consent means you understand what‘s going on in therapy – the privacy of information, the healthcare side, and the financial side.
Building trust
Consent lays the groundwork for a solid relationship with your therapist. When they ask for your consent, it shows they care about your input and want to work together with you. This helps set the rules for how you and your therapist will work together. It‘s about making sure you feel safe and comfortable during therapy.
Legal and ethical
In many jurisdictions, obtaining informed consent is not only an ethical requirement but also a legal obligation. It protects your rights and the therapist from potential legal repercussions.
Empowering you
Consent acknowledges that you are the ultimate decision-maker when it comes to your treatment goals and the methods used to achieve them. It is your way of saying ”yes“ to therapy on your terms, and it‘s a big part of making sure you get the most out of it.
Cancellation policy
Our cancellation policy is good to be aware of, since things come up and there may be times you need to cancel or reschedule a session. We ask that you please let us know at least 48 hours before a session if you need to cancel or reschedule to avoid our late cancellation fee of $100. We always try make the situation right, but know we are dedicated to a shared goal of providing help to as many people as possible. This includes being there for you with a regular commitment to sessions that keep you on track to getting better faster.
It’s been a tough road for me and I’m grateful each day that I found this program. My therapist is wonderful and has helped me so much thus far.
A NOCD MEMBER
NOCD invoice breakdown
Whenever you complete a session, your therapist signs a note documenting your time together. If you’re using insurance, a claim gets generated and goes right out to your provider. NOCD will provide Members with a weekly email summarizing their outstanding balance, including details for any open invoices with a remaining balance. Invoices are linked inside the Billing area of your NOCD Account and we’ll always send you an email before any new charges are due.
Please note that if you pay cash for therapy or if receive a special rate through your provider, your invoice might look a bit different. You can always ask us for a walk through of any invoice you receive if you ever have questions. You’ll still hear from us whenever you have a new invoice ready.
Member and provider information
The member information details who is being seen by name, address, and birthdate. To the right, the provider information lists the clinician by name, along with identifiers which relate to their license and government registration. These are included for financial and tax purposes.
Cost breakdown
Everything for one session gets captured in a single table to show a clear breakdown of what gets billed to insurance, what insurance will pay, and what remains as your portion of the balance, if anything.
Outstanding balance
Anything you owe for the individual session being billed, in addition to any prior amount that’s due for therapy, is clearly called out at the bottom as your balance for that session.
Weekly summary email
Members also receive a weekly email summarizing their total outstanding balance, consolidating any open invoices into one clear summary. This makes tracking easier for those with multiple appointments.
Billing FAQs
NOCD bills a set amount to insurance providers based on the length and type of your sessions. The amount that shows as billed to insurance on your invoice is not what you are expected to pay. The billed rate will be returned to NOCD with a reduction, or an “insurance adjustment” amount. This amount reflects the contract that NOCD has with the insurance company. This is standard medical billing practice. The cost you'll be responsible for comes down to your own coverage details like deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance. For example, if you haven't met your deductible yet, you may be responsible for a higher portion of the cost.
We realize this is a complex multi-step process. We strive to be transparent about our billing practices and are here to answer any questions you may have about understanding your estimated costs for care.
As in many other industries, we must have a credit card on file at the start of service. Nothing is charged to the card immediately. The reason we initially ask for a credit or debit card is to schedule and save the session you are booking with us. Cards on file are used for any cancellation fees or balances associated with your sessions after we have billed your insurance. We'll always email you ahead of time to let you know of any upcoming charges, so you have time to reach out if you'd like to discuss or set up different payment options.
Invoices start to get generated as soon as you complete a session, but please know if you are using insurance, it can sometimes take up to 4-6 weeks for a session to be processed under certain plans. You will always receive an email from us with any amount you'll owe, such as a copay, before you are charged. If you're paying out of pocket for sessions, you'll receive your invoices shortly after completing each session. If you decide to shift to a payment plan at any point in your journey, you will continue to get email notifications whenever a new invoice is generated, but you won't be charged until Fridays.
To best understand what you'll personally be responsible for under your specific plan, we encourage you to contact your insurance directly. We are happy to share CPT codes to help you gather information during your call. A CPT code is submitted by providers, like NOCD, to health insurance companies to show that a therapy session is completed across a specific length of time. The codes also let your insurance provider know the type of sessions you're having, and they can verify that coverage is included in your specific plan. Here are the CPT codes: 90791 for the first session, 90837 for a 60-minute session, 90834 for a 45-minute session, and 90832 for 30-minute sessions. If they ask, please tell your insurance that the official name of our company is NOCD Inc and that the place of service is 02 - this clearly lets them know it's for telehealth.
The amount showing as billed on your invoice to insurance is not the amount we expect you to be paying. This is a "bill rate." You will also see an "insurance adjusted" amount, which is reflective of what is being discounted or waived by your insurance. The amount you owe is based on your individual health plan and NOCD's discounted, contracted rate. While our standard cash pay rate is $210 per session, using insurance involves a different pricing structure. The billed rate to insurance will always be higher than our cash pay rates, but we do not expect to be paid what we bill to insurance. The amount you're responsible for paying out of pocket, as indicated on your invoice, is determined by your plan's coverage details, such as deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance. Depending on your plan, you may have different cost-sharing responsibilities that impact the final amount you owe.
This can happen based on the way certain insurance companies process claims. When it does, you always have the option to go on an interest-free payment plan with us if paying all at once does not work for you. Our weekly payment plan is $95/week. While it doesn't lower the cost of our sessions, it allows you to get immediate help and then pay off your balance over time, so you can get the support you deserve and need, now.
We trust that your therapist is recommending what's best for your treatment plan, and we want to support you in this journey as best as we can. What you can do proactively is call your insurance with our CPT codes based on session lengths to get an early sense of combined costs. You can also consider our interest-free weekly payment plan of $95/week. While it wouldn't lower the cost of your sessions, it would allow you to get immediate help and then pay off your balance over time, so you can get the help you need and deserve now. It also helps you avoid having a large outstanding balance at the end of treatment.
Any EOB document you receive from your provider is just to give you an overview of what you'll owe, if anything, to NOCD. Payments should only be made to us, not your insurance provider. Please always wait for a NOCD invoice and go by what's posted in your NOCD account before submitting any sort of payment.
Anytime you need a copy of an invoice - recent or from a few months back, you can download it right from the “Invoice” section of your billing page in your NOCD account. If you get stuck locating what you need, please reach out to us at care@nocdhelp.com
The amount showing as billed on your invoice to insurance is not the amount we expect you to be paying. This is a "bill rate." You will also see an "insurance adjusted" amount, which is reflective of what is being discounted or waived by your insurance. The amount you owe is based on your individual health plan and NOCD's discounted, contracted rate.
While our standard cash pay rate is $210 per session, using insurance involves a different pricing structure. The billed rate to insurance will always be higher than our cash pay rates, but we do not expect to be paid what we bill to insurance. The amount you're responsible for paying out of pocket, as indicated on your invoice, is determined by your plan's coverage details, such as deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance. Depending on your plan, you may have different cost-sharing responsibilities that impact the final amount you owe.
If you were billed for a session that you canceled or were not able to attend, it is likely because it fell under our late cancellation policy. Our policy is that members must let us know at least 48 hours before a session if they need to cancel or reschedule to avoid a late cancellation fee of $100. We know things come up, and we strive to make the situation right, but we are dedicated to providing help to as many members as possible which means requiring advance notice to book members if spots become available. NOCD's cancellation policy is included in the consent form, Good Faith Estimate (GFE), and payment agreement we ask every member to sign before treatment. If you feel there was an error in how you were invoiced and charged for a session, please reach out to us at care@nocdhelp.com and we can look into it together.
If you receive an explanation of benefits stating that your therapist is out-of- network, please reach out to us immediately so we can verify. We never want to burden you with any unanticipated costs. Sometimes, health plans process insurance claims in error, and we need to work with them to get things corrected. If it turns out your therapist is out-of-network, you will not be responsible for any sessions that took place and we'll work together to decide if you want to proceed as a cash pay member or transfer to an in-network therapist.
Superbills for sessions that have been paid in full can be found inside the billing section of your NOCD account. You can simply download one or as many as you like. If you need any help finding or downloading them, please reach out to us at care@nocdhelp.com and we’ll walk you through it.
We absolutely need to be made aware of every possible insurance provider you are enrolled with so when we go to verify your eligibility, there is no confusion among the providers. This also helps us find your lowest cost coverage for your sessions. You can upload multiple insurance cards right on the billing page of your NOCD account.
All invoices are connected to the email address we have associated with your account. This email links your account to everything on our end and directly to your Member account on the web and your NOCD app. Whenever an invoice is ready, we'll use this email address to communicate with you about it. You will hear from us with any amount that is owed like a copay, ahead of when charges are actually due. In cases where someone else handles the billing, if you're comfortable, you can allow them to log into your Member account to pay invoices. If you're a parent or guardian and manage therapy for a minor, we are happy to set up a linked account or discuss specific requests for how you receive invoices. Please reach out to us at care@nocdhelp.com for help.