Hi!
I'm 25 and I had a pretty rough time last summer. I decided to look for therapy and found a great one. He really helped me a lot, and he was covered by my insurance.
However, my parents' insurance changed over the winter, and he was no longer covered. He offered me biweekly sessions at $100 per session out of pocket and not wanting to change again made me say yes. He'll be covered again when my insurance changes when I'm 26 and it's my own, but am I silly for continuing to pay out of pocket? Seeing my bank account makes my eyes burst out a bit though I definitely can still afford it and save.
Paying out of pocket for therapy?
byu/Spirited-Bee-465 inpersonalfinance
Posted by Spirited-Bee-465
3 Comments
>but am I silly for continuing to pay out of pocket?
Absolutely not.
>Seeing my bank account makes my eyes burst out a bit though I definitely can still afford it and save.
If $200 a month does that to you maybe you need to evaluate your budget and cut out unnecessary expenses and health/mental heath care are important.
People on HDHP insurance plans pay about that or more, and it is applied to their deductible.
I don’t go that often, but my therapist charges a little less to not bill insurance, so I pay out of pocket. If I hit my deductible, it won’t be him who gets me there anyway.
If you are fairly far along in your treatment plan, you might consider going less often if it becomes a financial burden.
>am I silly for continuing to pay out of pocket?
Not necessarily. I always paid for my therapy out of pocket because I was paranoid if I went through my insurance it was then “on the books” and would be used against me if anything ever happened.
>Seeing my bank account makes my eyes burst out a bit though I definitely can still afford it and save.
Finding a good therapist that you click with is worth its weight in gold. I agree with the other commenter — I’d stick with the $200/mo and cut costs elsewhere. As a last resort, would you be able to go once per month until you either feel more comfortable spending the money or get different insurance that’ll cover it?