Fees & Insurance

At Awareness & Wellness Center (AWC), we believe in being transparent about the cost of care and helping clients understand their payment and insurance options before beginning services.

Fees vary depending on the clinician, level of licensure, advanced specialty credentials, type of service, and length of appointment. Our team is happy to help you identify clinicians who may be a good fit for your clinical needs, schedule, insurance coverage, and financial preferences.

Self-Pay Rates

*Advanced Specialty Certification: May include credentials such as AASECT Certified Sex Therapist or other advanced specialty certifications recognized by AWC. These credentials reflect additional education, training, supervised clinical experience, and specialization beyond the clinician’s primary professional license.

Rates may also vary for specialty services, including couples and relationship therapy, sex therapy, psychological assessment, extended sessions, consultation, and other specialized services.

Please contact AWC for the specific fee associated with your clinician and service.

If you plan to use out-of-network benefits, we encourage you to contact your insurance company to determine whether your plan provides reimbursement for services provided by an out-of-network clinician.

Insurance

Psychotherapy services may be covered in full or in part by your health insurance plan. Coverage varies depending on your specific plan, deductible, copayment, coinsurance, clinician, and service.

AWC works with many commercial insurance plans, including:

• UPMC
• Highmark / Blue Cross Blue Shield
• UnitedHealthcare
• Aetna
• Cigna
• Optum

Please note: Insurance coverage varies by clinician and service. Certain services, including couples therapy and specialized services, may be offered on a self-pay basis and may not be billed to insurance. Please contact AWC to confirm your clinician’s insurance participation and whether your specific service is eligible for insurance billing.

AWC does not accept Medicare or Medicaid.

Not every AWC clinician participates with every insurance company or insurance product. Participation may depend on the clinician’s license, credentialing status, type of service, and requirements of the specific insurance plan.

Our team can help identify AWC clinicians who participate with your insurance. However, verification of benefits is not a guarantee that an insurance company will pay for services.

Couples & Relationship Therapy

Insurance coverage and billing for couples and relationship therapy vary by insurance plan, clinician, and the clinical circumstances of treatment.

Some AWC clinicians accept insurance for eligible couples therapy services, while others provide couples and relationship therapy on a self-pay basis only.

Please contact AWC before scheduling if you plan to use insurance for couples or relationship therapy. Our team can help identify clinicians who may participate with your plan and discuss applicable fees and billing arrangements.

Understanding Your Insurance Benefits

Before beginning treatment, we encourage you to contact your insurance company to understand your outpatient behavioral health benefits.

Helpful questions include:

• Is my AWC clinician in-network with my specific plan?
• Do I have a deductible for outpatient behavioral health services?
• How much of my deductible has been met?
• What is my copayment or coinsurance for outpatient psychotherapy?
• Are there limitations on the number or type of sessions covered?
• Does my plan require authorization?
• Are couples or family psychotherapy services covered?
• Do I have out-of-network behavioral health benefits?

Clients are ultimately responsible for understanding their insurance benefits and for charges that are not paid by their insurance plan, subject to applicable law and AWC’s contractual obligations with insurance companies.

Billing & Payment

Payment is due at the time services are provided.

AWC requires an authorized payment method to be maintained on file. Copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, self-pay fees, missed-session fees, and other balances for which the client is responsible may be processed using the authorized payment method on file.

Clients are responsible for keeping their insurance, contact, and payment information current and for notifying AWC promptly of changes to insurance coverage.

Information received from an insurance company regarding benefits or eligibility is not a guarantee of payment. If an insurance company denies or does not cover a service, the client may be responsible for the balance to the extent permitted by applicable law and contractual requirements.

Administrative & Professional Services

Psychotherapy fees cover scheduled clinical treatment sessions. Additional professional or administrative services requested outside scheduled psychotherapy may involve separate fees.

Examples include:

• Letters and treatment verification
• Completion of forms or questionnaires
• Treatment summaries
• Extensive chart or medical-record review
• Preparation of detailed clinical documentation
• Professional consultation with outside providers
• Telephone or video consultation requiring significant clinician time
• Coordination or consultation with attorneys or other professionals
• Other professional services performed outside scheduled psychotherapy sessions

Routine requests requiring minimal administrative time may not always result in an additional charge.
When a request requires significant clinician time, record review, clinical judgment, or preparation, an administrative or professional-services fee may apply.

Whenever reasonably possible, the applicable fee will be discussed before the requested service is completed.

These services are generally not billable to health insurance and may be the responsibility of the client or requesting party.

Letters, Forms & Clinical Documentation

AWC clinicians may receive requests for letters, forms, reports, treatment summaries, accommodation documentation, disability-related documentation, or other written clinical materials.

Whether a clinician can appropriately complete a particular request depends on the clinician’s professional role, the nature and duration of treatment, the information available to the clinician, applicable professional standards, and whether the requested opinion falls within the clinician’s scope of practice.

A request for documentation does not guarantee that a clinician will be able to provide the requested statement, diagnosis, recommendation, certification, or professional opinion.

Fees may apply based on the amount of clinician time, preparation, and record review required.AWC clinicians may receive requests for letters, forms, reports, treatment summaries, accommodation documentation, disability-related documentation, or other written clinical materials.

Whether a clinician can appropriately complete a particular request depends on the clinician’s professional role, the nature and duration of treatment, the information available to the clinician, applicable professional standards, and whether the requested opinion falls within the clinician’s scope of practice.

A request for documentation does not guarantee that a clinician will be able to provide the requested statement, diagnosis, recommendation, certification, or professional opinion.

Fees may apply based on the amount of clinician time, preparation, and record review required.

Medical Records

Clients may request access to or copies of their clinical records in accordance with applicable federal and Pennsylvania law.

Requests for records should be submitted through AWC’s established records-request process so that authorization, identity, scope of the request, and applicable confidentiality considerations can be appropriately reviewed.

Fees for copies or production of medical records, when permitted, will be assessed in accordance with applicable law.

Certain records may involve additional confidentiality, privilege, legal, or clinical considerations. These may include records involving couples, families, minors, multiple participants, psychotherapy notes, or information concerning another person.

AWC reviews these requests individually and releases information only as permitted or required by applicable law.

Couples & Family Therapy Records

Couples and family therapy differ from individual psychotherapy because more than one person may participate in treatment and the clinical record may contain information relating to multiple individuals and the relationship or family system.

Requests involving records from couples or family treatment may therefore require additional review before information can be released.

AWC will consider applicable authorizations, confidentiality and privilege requirements, the nature of the record, the rights of participants, applicable law, and relevant safety considerations when responding to these requests.

Participation in couples or family therapy does not necessarily mean that one participant has an unrestricted right to obtain or authorize disclosure of all information contained within a joint clinical record.

Questions concerning access to couples or family therapy records may be directed to AWC

Legal & Court-Related Services

AWC is a psychotherapy practice. Our clinicians primarily serve as treating mental health professionals rather than forensic evaluators or expert witnesses.

From time to time, a clinician may receive a subpoena or be asked to communicate with an attorney, participate in a deposition, prepare for legal proceedings, or appear in court.

Legal and court-related professional services may include:

• Attorney consultation
• Review and response to subpoenas
• Record review and preparation
• Preparation for testimony
• Depositions
• Hearings and court appearances
• Professional testimony
• Travel and waiting time
• Other professional time reserved for a legal proceeding

These services fall outside routine psychotherapy and are generally not covered by health insurance. Separate professional fees apply.

Because a court appearance, deposition, or other legal proceeding may require a clinician to cancel appointments and reserve a substantial portion of a clinical day, AWC may require advance payment or a retainer before reserving time.

Travel expenses and other reasonable costs associated with a legal appearance may also apply.

AWC’s current Administrative, Documentation, Legal & Court-Related Services Fee Schedule is available upon request.

Subpoenas & Requests for Testimony

A subpoena or request from an attorney does not automatically authorize AWC or an AWC clinician to disclose confidential clinical information.

AWC responds to subpoenas, court orders, requests for records, and requests for testimony in accordance with applicable law, professional ethical obligations, confidentiality requirements, privilege, and valid authorization when applicable.

AWC may seek legal consultation when appropriate before releasing information or responding to a legal demand.

Payment for legal or court-related services does not influence a clinician’s professional opinion, diagnosis, recommendation, documentation, or testimony.

Cancellation & Missed Appointments

AWC requires at least 24 hours’ notice when cancelling or rescheduling a psychotherapy appointment.

If you do not attend your scheduled appointment or provide at least 24 hours’ notice, the authorized payment method on file will be charged a $100 missed-session/late-cancellation fee.

Insurance companies generally do not reimburse missed-session or late-cancellation fees.

We understand that unexpected circumstances can occur. Please communicate directly with your clinician as soon as possible if you are unable to attend a scheduled appointment.

Separate cancellation policies and fees may apply to psychological assessment, groups, wellness services, legal or court appearances, extended appointments, and other specialized services.

Good Faith Estimates & the No Surprises Act

Clients who do not have health insurance or who choose not to use their health insurance may have the right under federal law to receive a Good Faith Estimate explaining the expected cost of scheduled health care services.

A Good Faith Estimate is an estimate rather than a guarantee of the exact cost of treatment. The duration and frequency of psychotherapy vary according to each client’s individual needs and treatment plan.

For additional information about your rights under the No Surprises Act and Good Faith Estimate requirements, please visit the official Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website.

Questions About Fees or Insurance?

We know that insurance and behavioral health benefits can sometimes be confusing.

Our team is happy to help you understand AWC’s fees, identify clinicians who participate with your insurance, and answer questions about our billing and payment policies.

Please contact Awareness & Wellness Center before scheduling if you have questions about your insurance coverage, self-pay fees, couples therapy coverage, administrative services, or other financial policies.