How we estimate session costs, and why session costs may change

How the billing process works

You can expect the following steps for each session:

Your payment method will be charged after your session.
Your insurer will review your claim. Although uncommon, your insurer may adjust the final cost based on plan details, like whether you’ve met your deductible.
If you were overcharged, we’ll refund you the difference. If you were undercharged, we’ll send you an email with a link to review a second bill.

How we estimate session costs

Your session cost is our best estimate for how much you’ll pay, based on what we know today about your insurance plan’s benefits and your provider’s typical services.

We do our best to get this estimate right—based on our relationships with insurance companies and experience with hundreds of different plan types. The final cost usually matches or comes close to this number.

As a reminder, you can always keep track of your costs on your detailed benefits page.

Why your session cost may have changed

Occasionally, the final session cost will differ from our estimated cost. This is because there’s certain information we can’t know for sure—based on the way insurance claims get processed—until after you’ve attended your session.

A few common examples (click on each to expand and learn more):

Changes to your deductible or out-of-pocket max status

In a given year, plans usually require you to pay a set amount of money yourself before you reach a deductible or out-of-pocket max (dollar amount thresholds). We don’t always have immediate visibility into whether you’ve reached these thresholds, and sometimes our estimate is wrong as a result.

Resetting of your annual plan

When your plan resets at the end of the year, that can change your deductible status (see above). Also, if you select a new plan with different benefits (like a different co-pay or a higher or lower deductible), that can also change your benefits.

Details of your session itself

Our cost estimate might assume one type of appointment (such as a 45-minute talk therapy session), only for your visit to be different (such as a 90-minute session involving medical evaluation and prescription). Depending on your plan, different sessions like these can result in changes in the final cost.

Unexpected plan details

While we’re familiar with most insurance plans, some involve special circumstances, such as different coverages between an umbrella and subsidiary company. Sometimes, these details are not initially clear until we get final information from your insurer.

How to know your session cost has changed

If your session cost changes for any reason, you will see this displayed on your detailed benefits page.

If your session cost changes as a result of Headway correcting previously incorrect benefit information, you will receive an email from us with additional details.

If you were undercharged

Resolving an outstanding balance

Within the email you received, there should be a button that says "pay now". Clicking this button will take you to your past appointments page. From there, you can click the black "pay now" button to resolve your outstanding balance.

If you'd like to view the specific appointments you were undercharged for, you can scroll through your past appointments. Each appointment affected will have the word "undercharged" marked next to it in yellow.

You'll be able to see the updated price, as well as your open balance, for each individual appointment that you were undercharged for, by clicking into the affected appointment.

If you received an email, but don't see the option to pay your balance, please contact us.

If you were overcharged

If you believe you're owed a refund

If you believe you were overcharged, and need to be refunded, contact us with as much detail as possible. If you have an explanation of benefits (EOB) from your insurer that displays an overcharge, attach this to your message for the quickest resolution.

What to do after Headway initiates a refund

Once we determine that you're owed a refund, and communicate that to you, you'll receive a confirmation email once your refund(s) are processed, which will include session information and refund amount. Once the refund has been initiated, you'll receive an email and it will be reflected on your statement within 3-5 business days.

Learn more about what to do if your refund fails

Locating the actual incorrect charge and difference refunded

You should have received an email for each individual refund that was processed, which includes session information and refund amount. You'll receive an email and see your refunds reflected on your statement within 3-5 business days.

If you'd like to view the specific appointments you were overcharged for in your account, you can scroll through your past appointments. Each appointment affected will have the word "overcharged" marked next to it in blue.

You'll be able to see the updated price, as well as how much you were refunded, for each individual appointment that you were overcharged for. You can also download updated invoices for each session from your past appointments page.