1. Headway
  2. Providers
  3. Documentation, billing, & audits/reviews

Updates to your client's session costs

Updated

How the billing process works

You can expect the following steps for each session:

  1. A few days before your client's first session, we’ll verify their account has available funds by placing a temporary hold for your estimated session cost.
  2. After their session, we’ll cancel this hold and charge the payment method on file. For all future sessions, they won’t see any hold.
  3. Your client's insurer will review the claim. Although uncommon, their insurer may adjust the final cost based on plan details, like whether they've met their deductible.
  4. If your client was overcharged, we’ll refund them the difference. If they were undercharged, we’ll send them an email with a link to review a second bill.

 

How we estimate session costs

Your client's session cost is our best estimate for how much they'll pay, based on what we know today about their insurance plan’s benefits and their 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.

 

Why session costs 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 clients have attended their 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 clients to pay a set amount of money themselves before reaching a deductible or out-of-pocket max (dollar amount thresholds). We don’t always have immediate visibility into whether clients have reached these thresholds, and sometimes our estimate is wrong as a result.

Resetting of annual plans
When plans reset at the end of the year, that can change a client's deductible status (see above). Also, if a client selects a new plan with different benefits (like a different co-pay or a higher or lower deductible), that can also change their benefits.
Details of the session itself
Our cost estimate might assume one type of appointment (such as a 45-minute talk therapy session), only for their visit to be different (such as a 90-minute session involving medical evaluation and prescription). Depending on the client's 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 the client's insurer.

 

How to know your client's session cost has changed

If your client's session cost changes for any reason, they will see this displayed in their account.

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

 

Resolving an outstanding balance

Within the email your client received, there should be a button that says "pay now". Clicking this button will take them to their past appointments page. From there, they can click the "pay now" button to resolve their outstanding balance with us. 

 

Refunds due to session cost change

Your client will receive a confirmation email as soon as their refund(s) are processed, which will include session information and refund amount. Once initiated, refund(s) will be reflected on their statement within 3-5 business days. 

If they received an email, but did not receive a refund after 5 business days of receipt, please contact us. 

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