Paying For Services

• My Fees
• Private Pay
• Using Insurance
• Insurance Copays, Deductibles and Mental Health Parity
• Billing Questions

My Fees

Please contact me for my current fees. The clinical evaluation and ongoing session length is 50 minutes. The same fee is charged for individual or couple sessions.  Fees for groups vary.

I will provide you with a Billing - Insurance form with a specific fee agreement that we both sign. 

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Private Pay

You can privately pay your fees for services. Please let me know that you would to pay privately for services when we have our initial telephone consultation. We can discuss my fee structure.

In our initial appointment, I will document our private pay fee agreement and we will both sign this agreement. Forms for new clients paying privately are available at New Client Appointments

Please pay private pay fees and balances in full at the time of each session.

I accept payment by cash, checks, money orders, Visa, Mastercard, Discover and American Express credit cards

You can use the Credit Card Payment Authorization Form to charge your session fees and balances directly to your credit card.

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Using Insurance

As a courtesy, my office will file for reimbursement with your insurance company, however, the ultimate responsibility for payment of your account is yours.

Neither Shari Cohn nor MCPST accepts responsibility for collection of your claim or negotiating a settlement on a disputed claim. You will receive a monthly statement indicating all charges and payments. In the event that you do not pay an outstanding bill, your account could be referred to a collection agency which could lead to legal action.

You can use the Credit Card Payment Authorization Form to charge your session fees, copays, deductibles and balances directly to your credit card.

Before your first appointment, please contact your insurance company to get answers to questions about your insurance benefits. While some of this information might be on your insurance card, you may still need to talk with a customer service representative or mental health or behavioral health representative to clarify coverage or to get prior authorization for use of your outpatient mental health benefits.

Remember, you are ultimately responsible for your bill. Getting accurate information about your insurance coverage now is important to help you understand your benefits and avoid confusion and financial problems later.

Following is information and questions to help you clarify your outpatient mental health benefits. This MCPST Insurance Benefits Worksheet can be downloaded to have handy when you contact your insurance representative.

This is a list of the information you will need before you talk to your insurance company representative:

• Your name
• Your birth date
• The name of your insurance carrier
• If your insurance is an HMO, PPO or standard plan
• If you need a referral (prior authorization) before your insurance will cover our services. If this is the case you will need to contact your customer service representative or physician for information about this process
• The subscriber of the policy and their birth date
• The group number
• Your ID number
• The phone number of your insurance company in case we need to contact them for billing reasons
• The renewal date of your policy

Your insurance company representative may want to know the following information about me and MCPST to help clarify your benefits:

• Shari Cohn is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) # 2984-123 licensed to provide psychotherapy by the Wisconsin Department of Regulation and Licensing
• I have special certifications from my professional organizations including:
  • Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT) certified by the International Institute of Trauma and Addiction Professionals (IITAP)
  • EMDR Level II Certification
  • Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW)
• I am a clinical member of the following organizations:
  • American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT)
  • Society For the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH)
• Midwest Center For Psychotherapy and Sex Therapy (MCPST) is an outpatient mental health clinic.

Questions to ask your insurance company representative:

• Is my insurance company an HMO, PPO or a standard plan?
• Is Shari Cohn and/or MCPST covered by my insurance plan?
• Do I need a referral or prior authorization before I receive services and at intervals as I receive services? If yes, how do I get these?
• What are my outpatient mental health benefits? Is there a specific number of visits, dollar amount limit per year or time frame within which I have to use the sessions? If yes, when do my benefits start up again?
• Do I have a copay or deductible? How much?
• Are there mental health services not covered (for example: marital therapy or sexual therapy)?
• Does my policy change mental health benefits when the policy renews?

When using health insurance to cover services, please also read the following information within my website:

• Forms To Complete Before Your First Session
• Insurance Copays, Deductibles and Mental Health Parity
• Questions About Billing
• MCPST Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Practices Form
• Credit Card Payment Authorization Form

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Insurance Copays, Deductibles and Mental Health Parity

In accordance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, prior benefit limits for Behavioral Health and AODA services have been removed. In the past, mental health benefits have been set aside as a separate coverage with limits as to number of sessions and maximum expenditure on services allowed. This is no longer the case.

Behavioral Health and AODA diagnoses are to be treated by insurance companies the same as medical diagnoses. Effective with all policy renewals on or after November 1, 2009, depending on your particular health insurance policy, insurance companies may now require you to pay a deductible, a copay, or both.

If you have questions or concerns regarding these changes, please contact your insurance customer service department at the phone number listed on your card. MCPST has developed a list of information and questions to ask your insurance provider to help clarify your insurance coverage. They will be able to discuss with you what changes to your mental health benefits, if any, are applicable to your particular policy.

Please present your insurance card upon arrival at the my office. Your insurance card may have important information regarding whether or not you have a copay and the amount of your copay.

Please pay your copay by cash, check, money order or credit card at the time of each session. Our receptionist will accept and process this payment prior to each session. If our receptionist is not available, I will help you with this payment at the start of your session.

You can use the Credit Card Payment Authorization Form to charge your session fees, copays, deductibles and balances directly to your credit card.

Please feel free to discuss with me what these changes may mean for you financially.

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Billing Questions

If you have any questions about billing please call me at 608-237-800 extension 109. If I am not able to answer your questions or you need further information, you can contact or leave a message for my clinic billing manager at 608-237-8004.

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