Often the cost of counseling is not a luxury. No matter the dollar price, it may cost far more to not go to therapy when, for instance, the problem is affecting your wellbeing to the point that it impinges on your ability to sustain relationships that are important to you, to be a productive employee or student, or to survive depression, anxiety, or addiction.
Certainly all of these can have ramifications that will far exceed dollar-for-dollar the cost of therapy, even if you pay 100% out of pocket. Some of the consequences of leaving mental health issues untreated include the cost of court, fines, job loss, dropping out of school, hospitalization, divorce, etc.
Generally the earlier a problem is treated the less negative impact it will have on your life, including the financial impact.
Fortunately Kevin Elliott Counseling Inc. has a staff trained to help find a way to make counseling services available to nearly everyone.
Here are some of the arrangements we have enlisted with a variety of Second Party Payers to make counseling more affordable:
Our therapists are covered under virtually every local insurance plan. Because some of these plans limit the number of therapists included in their network, some plans may not cover every therapist on our staff. We will match you with a therapist who is covered and who fits your needs.
Our staff will confirm insurance benefits and whether or not pre-authorization for services is required. As a service to you we will also handle the insurance billing. You will only be responsible for what the insurance company will not pay, such as deductibles, co-payments, and co-insurance.
Occasionally, clients have benefits that will provide therapy services free of charge to the client. The most common example of this is the employee assistance program (or EAP) benefit provided by many employers. EAP benefits often provide a limited number of therapy or assessment sessions and are usually initiated by the client contacting the human resources office of the employer offering the benefits.
Some clients are able to access services through arrangements with particular agencies in the community who contract with Kevin Elliott Counseling Inc. to provide therapy services. In such cases, there is no charge for services to the client, since services are paid for by the contracting agency. Examples of such agencies include, but are not limited to: Catholic Charities (CC); Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD); The Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS); The Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS); Developmental Services Center (DSC); Lutheran Social Services of Illinois (LSSI); and several others.
We are approved for Medicare payments, and billing is handled similarly to insurance billing.
Kevin Elliott Counseling Inc. is not approved for Medicaid payments; we will always arrange an appropriate referral to a covered provider, or work with you on a sliding scale and payment plan.
(Please see Can I afford it? to determine if you are eligible for second party payment.)
The cost of therapy varies a great deal. At Kevin Elliott Counseling Inc., the standard charge for a therapy session is $125.00, with a $150.00 charge for an initial assessment session.
Sliding Scale: If the charge presents a financial hardship, we also have a sliding scale, lowering the charge for a session to as low as $65.00, or whatever level of payment is affordable to a client within that range. The same charges apply to such special services as anger management sessions and reporting.
We accept cash and check. Upon request for multiple sessions are able to accept VISA, MC and Discover as well.
Kevin Elliott Counseling: 44 E Main St # 406; Champaign, IL 61820-3649; (217) 398-9066