Does Insurance Cover Online Therapy? The Complete 2026 Guide

Yes - most health insurance plans in the United States cover therapy, and the large majority now cover therapy delivered by video or phone on the same terms as an office visit. What you pay depends on whether the platform or therapist is in your plan's network, on your copay or coinsurance, and on whether a deductible applies. Of the platforms we cover, Talkspace is in-network with many major insurers, Medicare and TRICARE with copays that typically land between $0 and $30; betterhelp now accepts insurance with copays cited from around $23 per session; and headspace's therapy service accepts insurance with a coverage check on its site.

That is the short answer, and for many people it is the whole answer: run the eligibility check on the platform you are considering, see your copay, and start. The rest of this guide exists because the details decide whether "covered" means $0 a session or $150 a session until a deductible is met, whether your employer already pays for sessions you have never used, what happens if your therapist is out of network, how Medicare and Medicaid differ, and what a claim does to your privacy. Every one of those questions has a clear answer. We go through them in the order you will meet them.

What "covered" actually means

Insurance coverage for therapy is a set of rules, not a yes or no. A plan that covers therapy will have a network of contracted providers, a cost-sharing amount you owe per visit, possibly a deductible you must meet first, an annual out-of-pocket maximum after which the plan pays everything, and - less often now than a decade ago - rules about medical necessity or prior authorization. "Covered" means the plan will pay its share according to those rules. It does not mean free, and it does not mean any therapist anywhere.

The three questions that decide your cost

1. Is this platform or therapist in my network? In-network means a contracted rate and a predictable copay. Out-of-network means you pay the therapist directly and may claim partial reimbursement.
2. Does my deductible apply to mental-health visits? On some plans you pay a flat copay from the first session. On others - especially high-deductible plans - you pay the full contracted rate until you have spent your deductible for the year.
3. What is my copay or coinsurance? A copay is a fixed amount per visit; coinsurance is a percentage of the contracted rate. Either one is printed on your insurance card or available in your plan's online portal.

If you can answer those three questions, you know your price. The sections below show you how to find each answer in under ten minutes, and what to do when the answer is not the one you wanted. For the platform-by-platform picture first, our insurance-friendly platforms comparison ranks the options; for the full picture of what online therapy is and how it works, our complete guide to online therapy is the place to start.

Insurance pays for therapy the same way it pays for any outpatient medical visit: the provider bills your plan using a procedure code and a diagnosis code, the plan applies its rules for your network status, deductible and cost-sharing, pays the provider its share, and sends you an explanation of benefits showing what you owe. Understanding that flow once makes every later question - copays, superbills, denials - easy.

The billing flow, step by step

1. Eligibility check. Before your first session the platform or therapist confirms with your insurer that your plan is active and that it covers outpatient mental-health visits, and estimates your cost-sharing. Online platforms automate this at signup.
2. The session. You attend by video, phone or in person.
3. The claim. The provider submits a claim to your insurer. It includes a procedure code describing the service - for psychotherapy these are CPT codes such as 90791 for an initial evaluation, 90834 for a 45-minute session and 90837 for a 60-minute session - a diagnosis code describing the condition being treated, and, for telehealth, a modifier or place-of-service code indicating the visit was remote.
4. Adjudication. The insurer applies your plan's rules: Is the provider in-network? Has the deductible been met? What is the copay or coinsurance? Is there a visit limit or authorization requirement? It then pays the provider the contracted rate minus your share.
5. The explanation of benefits (EOB). You receive a statement - by mail or in the portal - showing the billed amount, the allowed amount, what the plan paid, and what you owe. An EOB is not a bill; the provider bills you separately for your share, or the platform charges your card.

In-network vs out-of-network

An in-network provider has a contract with your insurer that sets an allowed amount for each service and obliges the provider to accept it as full payment. You pay only your copay or coinsurance, and the provider cannot bill you the difference. An out-of-network provider has no contract. You pay their full fee, and if your plan has out-of-network benefits, you submit a claim and the plan reimburses a percentage of what it considers a reasonable rate, usually after a separate, higher out-of-network deductible. Online platforms that "accept insurance" are in-network with the plans they list; a plan that is not on their list is out-of-network, and most platforms will then bill you self-pay.

Copay, coinsurance, deductible, out-of-pocket maximum

Why the diagnosis code matters

Insurers pay for treatment of a condition, so every claim carries a diagnosis code. For therapy, these are codes from the mental and behavioral chapter of the ICD-10 classification - an anxiety disorder, a depressive disorder, an adjustment disorder and so on. Your therapist assigns the code that best describes what you are being treated for. Two consequences follow. First, therapy that is not treatment of a diagnosable condition - some couples counseling, pure personal growth or coaching - may not be billable to insurance, which the couples section below covers. Second, that code becomes part of your claims history with your insurer, which the privacy section covers. Neither is a reason to avoid insurance; both are reasons to understand it.

Mental-health parity is the federal rule that a health plan covering mental-health and substance-use care must not apply financial requirements or treatment limits to it that are more restrictive than those it applies to medical and surgical care. In practice it is why most plans now cover therapy at a copay comparable to a specialist visit, why hard annual session caps have largely disappeared, and why a plan that makes you jump through hoops for therapy that it does not require for a cardiology visit may be breaking the law.

The two laws behind it

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 established the parity requirement for group health plans that offer mental-health benefits. The Affordable Care Act then made mental-health and substance-use services one of the essential health benefits that individual and small-group marketplace plans must cover, and extended parity to those plans. Together they mean that nearly every plan sold on the individual market and through small employers covers therapy, and that any plan covering it must do so on comparable terms to medical care.

What parity does and does not guarantee

• It does require comparable copays and coinsurance, comparable deductibles, and no stricter visit limits than medical care.
• It does cover how a plan manages care - prior authorization, medical-necessity reviews, network adequacy - which must not be applied more stringently to mental health.
• It does not require every plan to cover mental health. Large self-funded employer plans are not required to offer the benefit, though nearly all do, and once they do, parity applies.
• It does not set the copay amount, choose your network, or guarantee that any particular platform is in it.
• It does not apply to Medicare in the same way; Medicare has its own, separate rules, covered below.

What a parity violation looks like

If your plan charges a $25 copay for a specialist visit and $60 for therapy, limits therapy to twenty sessions a year with no equivalent medical limit, or requires prior authorization for every therapy session but not for comparable medical care, those are the patterns regulators look for. The remedy is a complaint: to your state insurance department for fully insured plans, or to the US Department of Labor for employer self-funded plans. The denied-claims section later in this guide walks through the steps. Most people never need them; knowing the rule exists is usually enough to get a customer-service representative to re-check a claim.

For most plans, yes. Telehealth coverage for mental health expanded sharply in 2020 and, unlike some other telehealth services, has largely stayed: most commercial plans, Medicare and most state Medicaid programs cover video and phone therapy delivered by a licensed clinician on the same cost-sharing terms as an office visit. A minority of plans still treat telehealth differently - a different copay, a specific telehealth vendor, or audio-only exclusions - so it is one question worth asking your insurer directly.

How a telehealth session is billed

The therapist uses the same psychotherapy procedure code as an office visit and adds a telehealth indicator - a modifier such as 95, or a place-of-service code that identifies the visit as delivered to a patient at home. The plan recognizes the indicator and applies its telehealth rules. On most plans those rules now say: pay it like an office visit. The platform handles all of this; you only see the copay.

Video vs phone vs messaging

Live video sessions are the most universally covered. Phone (audio-only) sessions are covered by Medicare for mental health and by many commercial plans, but some plans still exclude or restrict audio-only visits - if phone sessions are what you want, confirm it. Asynchronous messaging is the least standardized: on some platforms messaging-based plans are billed to insurance as part of a treatment program, on others they are self-pay only. Talkspace's insured members are typically billed per live session; its messaging-only tier is a self-pay product at $69 per week. If a messaging plan is your preference, ask the platform exactly what the insurer is billed for.

State lines and coverage

Your therapist must be licensed in the state where you are physically located during the session, and your insurance plan's network is organized by state too. A platform that is in-network with your insurer in your home state will usually match you with a clinician licensed there. If you move, both the licensing and the network can change, and a re-match is normal. Our state-by-state guide covers licensing and the platforms serving each state.

With in-network coverage, a therapy session typically costs you a copay between $0 and $30 on an online platform - Talkspace publishes $0 for many members, and betterhelp cites copays from around $23 per session for covered members. If your plan applies a deductible to mental-health visits, you pay the full contracted rate per session until the deductible is met, then your copay or coinsurance. The only number that is yours is the one on your eligibility check, and it takes minutes to get.

Three cost structures you might see

A worked example (illustrative numbers)

The figures below are a made-up illustration of how the math works, not any platform's rates. Suppose your plan's allowed amount for a 45-minute session is $120, your copay is $25, and your deductible is $1,500 and applies to mental health. With the deductible already met for the year - say by other medical care - you pay $25 per session. With the deductible untouched, you pay $120 per session for the first twelve or thirteen sessions, then $25. If instead your plan uses 20% coinsurance after the deductible, you would pay $24 per session once the deductible is met. Three plans, three very different first months, same therapy. This is why the eligibility check matters more than the headline "takes insurance".

What the platforms publish

• Talkspace: in-network with many major plans, Medicare, TRICARE and employer EAPs; copays typically $0 to $30, and $0 for many members. Psychiatry can be covered too.
• betterhelp: accepts insurance with a coverage check at signup; copays cited from around $23 per session for covered members; a financial-aid questionnaire reduces the self-pay subscription for those who do not qualify.
• headspace: the therapy service accepts insurance with a coverage check on its site; the meditation app is a separate consumer subscription, not billed to insurance.

Our online therapy cost guide covers the full picture, including the self-pay prices we have verified.

Without insurance, online therapy is priced as a subscription or per session. Talkspace publishes self-pay plans of $69 per week for messaging only, $99 for video plus messaging and $109 for video, messaging and workshops, with psychiatry at $299 for the initial evaluation and $175 per follow-up; betterhelp quotes its subscription at signup based on location and preferences, with financial aid available. Self-pay is sometimes the smarter choice even when you have insurance - for privacy, for a therapist outside your network, or when a high deductible would make you pay full rate anyway.

Verified self-pay prices

Weekly prices are usually billed monthly, so a $99-per-week plan is roughly $396 to $436 a month depending on how many weeks fall in the billing cycle. Our Talkspace pricing guide and betterhelp cost guide go line by line.

When self-pay is the smarter choice

1. Privacy. Insurance billing creates a claims record with a diagnosis code. If you are on a parent's or spouse's plan and the explanation of benefits goes to them, or if you simply prefer that therapy not appear in your insurance history, self-pay keeps it out. The privacy section below explains exactly what a claim creates.
2. A high deductible you will not otherwise meet. If your deductible is large and you are healthy, you would pay the full allowed amount per session for months. A messaging-only plan at $69 per week, or a betterhelp subscription with financial aid, can be cheaper than "covered" therapy until the deductible is met.
3. The therapist you want is out of network. Specialists in a particular concern, identity or language are often out of network. Pay them directly and claim partial reimbursement with a superbill, covered later in this guide.
4. No diagnosis, or none you want on record. Coaching-style work, pre-marital counseling and some couples therapy do not carry a billable diagnosis. Self-pay is simpler and honest.
5. Your plan's network is thin. If the in-network options in your state have long waits, self-pay buys access now.

The No Surprises Act and good-faith estimates

Since 2022, providers must give uninsured and self-pay patients a written good-faith estimate of expected charges before scheduled care. Online platforms meet this by showing you the price before you pay. If you self-pay an independent therapist, you are entitled to the estimate; ask for it, and keep it.

A deductible is the amount you pay in full each plan year before your insurance starts sharing costs. Whether it applies to therapy depends on your plan: many plans exempt office visits, including mental-health visits, from the deductible and charge a copay from the first session; high-deductible health plans almost always apply it, which means paying the full contracted rate per session - often well over $100 - until the deductible is spent. It is the single most common reason people are surprised by their first therapy bill.

Deductible applies vs does not apply

Look at your summary of benefits and coverage - the standardized document every plan provides - under "mental/behavioral health outpatient services". It will say either a copay amount with "deductible does not apply" or a coinsurance percentage with "after deductible". The first means predictable cost from day one. The second means your early sessions are expensive and later sessions are cheap, and your total for the year depends on when you start and what else you spend on healthcare.

Timing matters

Deductibles reset with the plan year, usually January 1 but sometimes on your employer's plan anniversary. Starting therapy in November on a deductible plan means paying full rate for eight sessions and then starting over in January. Starting in January means the therapy itself helps you meet the deductible that other care will then benefit from. Neither is a reason to delay care you need; both are worth knowing when the start date is flexible.

Family deductibles and embedded deductibles

On family plans, each person may have an individual deductible embedded within a larger family deductible, or the family may share one amount. If someone else in your household has already met the family deductible, your therapy may be at copay rates immediately. Check the family total, not only your own.

The out-of-pocket maximum

Every ACA-compliant plan caps your annual spending on covered in-network services. Once you reach it, therapy is $0 for the rest of the year. People with chronic conditions or an expensive year often hit the cap by autumn; weekly therapy from that point costs nothing. Track the running total in your plan portal.

Yes. Psychotherapy by a licensed clinician is a qualified medical expense, so you can pay copays, coinsurance, deductible payments and self-pay session fees from a health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA) with pre-tax dollars. Meditation app subscriptions are a different matter: headspace states its app is HSA/FSA eligible, which generally depends on the account administrator's rules and, in some cases, on a letter of medical necessity.

HSA vs FSA, in one paragraph

An HSA pairs with a high-deductible health plan, is owned by you, rolls over indefinitely, and can be invested; contributions are pre-tax and withdrawals for qualified expenses are tax-free. An FSA is offered by an employer, usually must be spent within the plan year (sometimes with a small carryover or grace period), and is funded by pre-tax payroll deductions. Both can pay for therapy. If you have a high-deductible plan and an HSA, paying your deductible-rate sessions from the HSA is the single biggest discount available to you, because every dollar is untaxed.

How to pay

Use the HSA or FSA debit card at checkout on the platform, or pay by other means and submit the receipt for reimbursement. Keep receipts and, for anything an administrator might question, a note from your therapist or physician. Most platforms issue itemized receipts on request; Talkspace and betterhelp both provide billing statements from the account area.

What qualifies and what might not

• Qualifies: therapy sessions, psychiatric evaluations and follow-ups, copays and coinsurance for either, prescription medication copays.
• Usually qualifies: therapy for a diagnosed condition by any licensed clinician, in-network or not.
• Depends: general-wellness and meditation apps, which some administrators treat as eligible outright and others only with a letter of medical necessity. headspace markets its app as HSA/FSA eligible; confirm with your administrator before relying on it.
• Does not qualify: life coaching, non-clinical wellness programs.

All three platforms we cover now work with insurance, but in different ways. Talkspace is built around it - in-network with many major commercial plans, Medicare, TRICARE and employer assistance programs, for therapy and psychiatry alike. betterhelp, for years the self-pay holdout, now accepts insurance through a coverage check at signup. headspace accepts insurance for its therapy service, while its meditation app remains a consumer subscription. The table below is the comparison in one place; the three sections after it go platform by platform.

Two practical notes. First, "accepts insurance" always means specific plans; the only way to know yours is covered is the platform's own check. Second, insurance billing on these platforms is usually per live session, so if your interest is a messaging-heavy plan, ask what the insurer is billed for. Our insurance-friendly platforms comparison ranks the three on this dimension, and our shorter insurance guide is the quick version of this page.

Yes. Talkspace is in-network with many major insurers - including Aetna, Cigna, Optum, Anthem plans, Medicare and TRICARE - and with many employer assistance programs, with copays that typically land between $0 and $30 per session and $0 for many members. Coverage extends to psychiatry on the platform, which makes Talkspace the one option in our coverage where therapy and medication management can both be billed to insurance under one account.

How Talkspace coverage works in practice

At signup you enter your insurance details and Talkspace runs an eligibility check that returns your estimated cost per session. If your plan is in-network, you are matched with a therapist licensed in your state and credentialed with your plan, and each live session is billed to the insurer with your copay charged to you. If your plan is not in-network, Talkspace offers its self-pay plans - $69, $99 or $109 per week for therapy, $109 for couples - and you can still use HSA or FSA funds or submit a superbill for out-of-network reimbursement.

Employer assistance programs

Talkspace works with many EAPs, which means your employer may already pay for a block of sessions. If your benefits mention Talkspace, or you have an EAP code, enter it at signup; EAP sessions are typically free to you and do not touch your insurance deductible.

Medicare and TRICARE

Talkspace lists Medicare and TRICARE among the plans it works with, which matters because older adults and military families have historically had the fewest online therapy options. Medicare Part B's 20% coinsurance after the deductible applies to covered sessions unless a Medigap or Medicare Advantage plan changes it; the Medicare section below has the detail.

Why it earns the top insurance spot in our ranking

Breadth of named plans, published self-pay prices as a fallback, psychiatry under the same coverage, and the best verified customer rating in our coverage - 4.4 on Trustpilot across 2,370 reviews, captured August 2026. Our Talkspace insurance guide and Talkspace review cover the caveats, including therapist response schedules on messaging plans.

Yes, now. betterhelp operated for years as a self-pay subscription that did not bill insurance, and many older articles still say so. It now accepts insurance through a coverage check at signup, with copays cited from around $23 per session for covered members. If your plan is not covered, betterhelp quotes its self-pay subscription - priced by location and preferences - and offers a financial-aid questionnaire that reduces it for people on lower incomes.

What changed and what did not

The change is that betterhelp can bill certain plans directly, so covered members pay a copay instead of the subscription. What did not change: betterhelp is talk therapy only, with no psychiatry, so medication would need a separate prescriber; its subscription model still bills for the plan whether or not you use every session when you are self-pay; and the specific insurers it works with are confirmed per member at signup rather than published as a list. Run the check with your actual member details rather than assuming either way.

If you are not covered

Complete the financial-aid questionnaire honestly; it is designed to reduce the price for people who need it. Then compare the quoted subscription against a Talkspace self-pay plan at the same format level, and against any EAP sessions you have not used. Our betterhelp insurance guide, betterhelp cost guide and betterhelp review cover each step.

A note on the privacy history

In 2023 betterhelp settled with the US Federal Trade Commission over past sharing of user data with advertising platforms. The practices at issue predate the settlement and the company changed them. It is relevant here only in this sense: insurance billing is governed by HIPAA and is separate from marketing data; both are worth understanding before you sign up anywhere, and the privacy section of this guide explains the difference.

For therapy, yes: headspace's online therapy service with licensed clinicians accepts insurance, with a coverage check on its site. For the meditation app, no: it is a consumer subscription that is HSA/FSA eligible and sometimes included in employer benefits, but it is not billed to health insurance. The distinction matters because the two products share a name and are frequently confused in search results.

The therapy service

Sessions are by video with a licensed clinician and are billed to covered plans like any outpatient mental-health visit. Run the coverage check with your member details to see your copay. The service does not prescribe medication; for psychiatry you would need another provider or a platform like Talkspace that offers it.

The app

Guided meditation, sleep and stress content, best thought of as a daily practice rather than treatment. The subscription is yours to pay; headspace markets it as HSA/FSA eligible, and many employers include it in benefits packages, which is worth checking before you subscribe. Its Trustpilot score - 1.5 across 770 reviews, captured August 2026 - is driven largely by billing and renewal complaints, so read the renewal terms. Our headspace review and headspace cost guide separate the two products in detail.

An eligibility check is a free, automated query from the platform to your insurer that confirms your plan is active, covers outpatient mental-health visits, and estimates your cost per session. It takes a few minutes and needs only the details on your insurance card. Run it on every platform you are considering before comparing self-pay prices - it is the one step that changes everything.

What you need

• Your insurance card: member ID, group number, and the plan name.
• The subscriber's name and date of birth, if you are covered under someone else's plan.
• Your date of birth and the state you live in.

Where to run it

• Talkspace: at signup, before any payment; it returns your estimated copay and whether psychiatry is covered.
• betterhelp: at signup, as part of the questionnaire; covered members are routed to copay billing.
• headspace therapy: the coverage check on its site.
• Your insurer: the member portal or the number on the card; ask whether each platform is in-network, whether telehealth therapy is covered at the same cost as in-person, and whether the deductible applies.

Reading the result

You will see one of three outcomes. Covered with a copay: the amount shown is what you pay per session; confirm whether the deductible applies first. Covered, deductible applies: you pay the contracted rate until the deductible is met; ask what that rate is and how much deductible remains. Not covered: the platform is out of network; consider self-pay, a superbill for out-of-network reimbursement, your EAP, or another platform.

Why the result can be wrong

Automated checks occasionally misread a plan, especially for employer plans administered by a third party, Medicare Advantage plans, and plans that changed at the start of the year. If the result surprises you, call the insurer with the platform's name and ask directly. Two minutes on the phone can save a month of overpaying.

Yes. Medicare Part B covers outpatient mental-health services, including psychotherapy and psychiatric evaluation, from clinicians who accept Medicare - and it covers those services delivered by telehealth, including video and audio-only sessions for mental health, from your home. You pay the Part B deductible and then 20% coinsurance of the Medicare-approved amount, unless a Medigap or Medicare Advantage plan changes that. Talkspace lists Medicare among the plans it works with.

Original Medicare: what is covered

• Individual and group psychotherapy from a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, clinical social worker, and - since recent rule changes - licensed professional counselors and marriage and family therapists who enroll with Medicare.
• Psychiatric evaluation and medication management.
• An annual depression screening at no cost when the provider accepts assignment.
• Telehealth delivery of all of the above for mental health, from home, by video or audio-only, without the geographic restrictions that apply to some other telehealth services.

What you pay

After the annual Part B deductible, 20% of the Medicare-approved amount per session; the provider must accept assignment for that amount to be the limit. A Medigap supplement plan typically covers the 20%, which can make therapy effectively $0 after the deductible. Medicare Part D covers prescribed psychiatric medication under its own copay structure.

Medicare Advantage

Medicare Advantage plans must cover everything Original Medicare covers, but they use their own networks and cost-sharing. Your copay for therapy may be a flat amount rather than 20%, and the platform or clinician must be in the plan's network. Run the eligibility check with your Advantage plan details specifically; a platform that works with Original Medicare is not automatically in every Advantage network.

The in-person visit rule

Federal law has, at various points, attached a requirement that Medicare telehealth mental-health patients have a periodic in-person visit with the provider. That requirement has been delayed by Congress more than once. Check its current status with Medicare or the platform before assuming either that it applies or that it does not; a platform that works with Medicare will tell you what it needs.

For older adults, phone sessions are a legitimate and covered option when video is difficult, and a family member can help with setup without being present for the session. Our insurance-friendly platforms comparison and the complete guide cover what to expect from the first session.

Medicaid covers mental-health services in every state, and most states cover telehealth therapy, but Medicaid is run state by state and often through managed-care organizations, so which online platforms are in-network varies widely. The reliable path is to check with your state's Medicaid program or your managed-care plan, run each platform's eligibility check with your Medicaid details, and, if no platform is covered, use your state's community mental-health centers, which are built to serve Medicaid members and increasingly offer video sessions.

Why Medicaid is different

Medicaid is jointly funded by federal and state governments, and each state sets its own benefits, rates and provider networks within federal rules. Many states contract managed-care organizations to administer benefits, each with its own network. A national online platform must enroll with each state program or managed-care plan separately, which is why coverage is patchy and changes over time. Telehealth rules also vary: most states cover video therapy, and many cover audio-only, but the specifics are state policy.

How to find out

1. Identify your plan: fee-for-service Medicaid or a named managed-care organization (the card will say).
2. Run the eligibility check on each platform with those details.
3. Call the member-services number on the card and ask for in-network outpatient mental-health providers who offer telehealth.
4. Search for your state's community mental-health centers or federally qualified health centers, which provide therapy on a sliding scale and accept Medicaid.

Cost

Medicaid cost-sharing for mental-health visits is minimal - often $0, sometimes a nominal copay - and many groups are exempt from cost-sharing altogether. If a provider asks you to pay a significant amount for a covered Medicaid service, that is a question for member services.

Children and CHIP

The Children's Health Insurance Program covers mental-health services for children in families who earn too much for Medicaid, with parity protections. Teen therapy on online platforms depends on each platform's age policy and state consent laws; a child's pediatrician and the school are often the fastest routes to a covered provider.

TRICARE covers outpatient mental-health care, including telehealth, for service members, retirees and their families, and Talkspace lists TRICARE among the plans it works with. Veterans enrolled in VA health care have access to VA mental-health services, including video visits, separately from any private insurance. In a crisis, the Veterans Crisis Line is reached by dialing 988 and pressing 1.

TRICARE

Cost-sharing depends on the plan - Prime, Select, Reserve Select and others - and on whether the provider is network or non-network. Outpatient mental-health visits do not require a referral under some plans and do under others; the TRICARE website and your regional contractor can confirm. Run the platform eligibility check with your TRICARE details, and if the result is unclear, call the regional contractor and ask whether the platform's clinicians are TRICARE-authorized providers.

VA mental health

Veterans enrolled in VA care can receive therapy, psychiatry and medication through the VA, including by video through its telehealth program, often at no cost depending on priority group and service connection. The VA also runs Vet Centers for readjustment counseling. Using the VA and a private platform at the same time is possible; tell each about the other so care is coordinated.

Military families and moves

Frequent relocation interacts with the state-licensing rule for therapists. Telehealth platforms handle re-matching after a move routinely, and some clinicians hold interstate compact privileges that allow continuity across member states. Raise it at intake.

Plans bought on the ACA marketplace must cover mental-health care as an essential health benefit with parity protections; student health plans at most universities cover therapy and often include free sessions at the campus counseling center; and short-term or limited-benefit plans frequently do not cover mental health at all. Knowing which kind of plan you hold tells you what to expect before you check.

ACA marketplace plans

Bronze, silver, gold and platinum tiers differ in how much the plan pays versus you. Bronze plans typically have high deductibles that apply to therapy; gold and platinum plans more often use copays from the first visit. If you qualify for cost-sharing reductions on a silver plan, your deductible and copays can be much lower than the sticker tier suggests. The summary of benefits for any marketplace plan is standardized, so compare the "mental/behavioral health outpatient" line across plans during open enrollment if therapy is a known need.

Student health plans

Most university plans cover outpatient therapy, and campus counseling centers typically offer a number of free sessions plus referrals. Students covered under a parent's plan should check whether that plan's network extends to the state where they study, and whether explanations of benefits go to the parent - a privacy point covered later in this guide.

Short-term, limited-benefit and faith-based plans

Short-term health plans and health-sharing ministries are not required to cover mental health and often exclude it. If you hold one, assume therapy is self-pay unless the plan documents say otherwise, and budget using the verified self-pay prices in this guide.

Dependents and young adults

Adults under 26 can stay on a parent's plan. Coverage for therapy follows the plan's rules; privacy follows the plan's communications rules. Several states let dependents request that explanations of benefits be sent to them rather than the subscriber; the privacy section explains how.

An employee assistance program (EAP) is a confidential benefit, offered by many medium and large employers, that provides a set number of free counseling sessions per issue per year - commonly somewhere between three and eight - plus referrals for ongoing care. It is separate from health insurance, does not touch your deductible, and is not reported to your manager. Many platforms, Talkspace among them, work with EAPs directly, so the sessions can happen online. It is the first thing to check before paying anyone, and the thing most people skip because they do not know it exists.

How to find out if you have one

Look at your benefits summary, your HR portal, or the back of your insurance card; search your company intranet for "EAP" or "employee assistance". If you cannot find it, ask HR in one line: "Do we have an EAP, and how do I access it?" Using the program is confidential by design; HR learns only that the benefit exists, not who uses it.

How it works

1. You contact the EAP by phone or online and describe what you need help with.
2. The EAP authorizes a number of sessions and either refers you to a counselor in its network or gives you a code to use on a partner platform.
3. You attend the sessions at no cost. Many EAP counselors offer video or phone.
4. If you need more, the EAP helps you transition to your health insurance, often to the same counselor if they are in your plan's network.

What EAPs are good for, and where they stop

EAP sessions suit short-term, focused concerns: a stressful period at work, a loss, a decision, a relationship rough patch, the first steps of addressing anxiety or low mood. They are not designed for ongoing weekly therapy over months, and the counselor pool may not include a specialist in your concern. The sensible use is as a free on-ramp: start there, and if more is needed, move to a covered platform with the EAP's help. Family members in the household are usually eligible too.

EAP codes on platforms

Talkspace works with many EAPs; if your program partners with it, you enter the EAP code at signup and your authorized sessions are billed to the program. Some employers also include headspace in benefits, which covers the app rather than therapy. Check both before assuming you need to pay.

If your therapist or platform is out of network but your plan has out-of-network benefits, you pay the full fee up front and claim partial reimbursement by submitting a superbill - an itemized receipt with the provider's credentials, the procedure and diagnosis codes, the dates and the amounts paid. Plans typically reimburse a percentage of what they consider the allowed amount, after a separate out-of-network deductible. It is slower and less generous than in-network care, but for a specialist you want, it can cut the real cost substantially.

Does your plan have out-of-network benefits?

PPO and POS plans usually do; HMO and EPO plans usually do not, except in emergencies. Your summary of benefits will show an "out-of-network" column for outpatient mental-health services with a deductible and a coinsurance percentage - for example 40% or 50% of the allowed amount after the deductible. If the column says "not covered", a superbill will not help, and self-pay is simply self-pay.

What a superbill contains

• Provider name, credentials, license number, National Provider Identifier (NPI) and tax ID.
• Your name, date of birth and member ID.
• Date of each session.
• CPT procedure code - typically 90791 for the initial evaluation, 90832, 90834 or 90837 for 30-, 45- or 60-minute psychotherapy, 90847 for family therapy with the patient present - plus a telehealth modifier or place-of-service code.
• ICD-10 diagnosis code.
• Amount charged and amount paid.

Any licensed therapist can produce one; most online platforms provide a downloadable statement from the account area, though not every platform formats it as a full superbill - ask for the codes if they are missing.

How to submit

1. Log in to your insurer's member portal and find the claims section, or download the paper claim form.
2. Upload or attach the superbill. Some plans want each session as a separate line; most accept a monthly statement.
3. Note the submission date. Processing often takes several weeks.
4. Watch for the explanation of benefits. It will show the allowed amount, how much went to your out-of-network deductible, and what was reimbursed.
5. Reimbursement arrives by check or direct deposit.

The math, illustrated

Illustrative only: you pay a therapist $150 per session. Your plan's out-of-network allowed amount is $110 and it reimburses 60% after a $500 out-of-network deductible. The first five sessions go entirely to the deductible. From session six, you receive about $66 back per session, so your net cost is about $84. Over a year of weekly sessions that is a meaningful difference - and the reason a specialist's out-of-network fee can be more affordable than it looks.

Services that help

Several third-party services will submit out-of-network claims for you for a fee or a share of the reimbursement; some therapists offer courtesy billing. Neither is necessary; the portal upload is usually straightforward once you have done it once.

Most plans no longer require prior authorization for routine outpatient therapy, and hard annual session caps have largely disappeared under parity rules, but plans can still review care for medical necessity, especially for extended courses of treatment, intensive programs and psychological testing. Online platforms handle authorizations where they exist; your job is to know whether your plan has one before the first session.

Prior authorization

Some plans require the provider to obtain approval before a service is covered. For outpatient psychotherapy this is now uncommon; for intensive outpatient programs, partial hospitalization, psychological testing and some psychiatric services it remains routine. Ask your insurer: "Does outpatient telehealth psychotherapy require prior authorization under my plan?" If it does, the platform or therapist submits the request, and you should see an approval before the first billed session.

Session limits

Parity rules mean a plan cannot limit therapy sessions more strictly than it limits comparable medical visits. Many plans have no numeric cap at all. Where a number exists - say a limit per year - check whether it is a hard cap or a review threshold after which the plan asks the provider for a treatment summary. The latter is more common and rarely results in a denial for someone making progress.

Medical necessity

Insurers pay for treatment of a condition that is affecting your functioning. Your therapist documents this with the diagnosis code and session notes. Occasionally a plan asks for a treatment plan or progress summary; your therapist handles it. Therapy for personal growth without a diagnosable condition, and coaching, generally fall outside medical necessity and are self-pay - which is honest, not a loophole.

What to do if coverage is cut off mid-treatment

Ask the insurer for the reason in writing, ask your therapist to submit a treatment summary, and if the denial stands, use the appeal process described in the denied-claims section. In the meantime, most platforms will continue care at self-pay rates, and a Talkspace messaging plan at $69 per week or a betterhelp subscription with financial aid can bridge the gap without a break in care.

Family therapy is often covered when it treats a diagnosed condition in one family member - billed under family-therapy procedure codes - and group therapy is commonly covered as part of treatment. Couples therapy is the exception: most plans do not cover relationship counseling as such, because it does not treat a diagnosable condition in an identified patient, though some couples work is covered when one partner has a diagnosis the sessions address. Expect couples therapy to be self-pay, and plan accordingly.

Couples therapy

Talkspace's couples plan is $109 per week self-pay. If one partner has a covered condition - depression or anxiety, for example - and the couples sessions are part of that person's treatment, a therapist may be able to bill them as family therapy with the patient present. Ask your therapist and insurer directly rather than assuming; billing couples counseling as individual therapy to force coverage is not something a licensed clinician will do. Our online couples therapy guide covers what to expect.

Family therapy

When a child or adult family member has a diagnosed condition and family sessions are part of treatment, insurance commonly covers them under the family-therapy codes, with the patient's cost-sharing applying. Online delivery works with everyone on video, sometimes from different locations. Our family therapy comparison and what is family therapy explain the formats.

Group therapy and workshops

Clinical group therapy led by a licensed clinician is usually covered under its own code, often at a lower copay than individual sessions. Educational workshops and skills classes - such as those included in Talkspace's $109 tier - are typically part of a self-pay plan rather than insurance-billed sessions.

Yes, on the same basis as other outpatient care: psychiatric evaluation and medication-management visits are covered medical services, telehealth delivery is covered by most plans and by Medicare, and the medication itself is covered under your plan's pharmacy benefit with its own copay tiers. Talkspace is the platform in our coverage where psychiatry is offered alongside therapy and can be billed to insurance; self-pay, its psychiatry is $299 for the initial evaluation and $175 per follow-up.

Two coverages, two bills

The visit with the prescriber is a medical claim - evaluation and management codes rather than psychotherapy codes - with your specialist copay or coinsurance. The prescription is a pharmacy claim at the pharmacy counter, priced by your plan's formulary tier: generic antidepressants are typically on the lowest tier, brand-name medications higher. If a prescribed medication is expensive, ask the prescriber about a generic equivalent and ask the pharmacy whether a manufacturer or discount program applies.

Prior authorization for medication

Some medications require prior authorization or step therapy - trying a lower-tier option first. The prescriber's office handles the request; the platform's psychiatry team does the same. Expect it for certain brand-name and controlled medications, not for first-line generics.

Controlled substances and telehealth

Certain controlled medications are subject to federal telemedicine prescribing rules that have changed several times since 2020. Whether a platform prescribes them remotely, and under what conditions, is a question for the platform; coverage is a separate question for your pharmacy benefit. Our online psychiatry comparison and online psychiatry guide explain what to expect from an evaluation and what can and cannot be prescribed online.

Billing a therapy session to insurance creates a claims record with your insurer that includes the date of service, the procedure code and a diagnosis code, and it generates an explanation of benefits that goes to the plan's subscriber. That record is protected by HIPAA and cannot be shared with your employer or used by a health insurer to deny you coverage, but it exists. Session notes and what you said in therapy are not part of a claim. For most people this is a normal part of healthcare; for some - dependents on a family plan, people in certain professions, anyone who simply prefers it - it is a reason to self-pay for therapy specifically.

What a claim contains, and what it does not

Who can see it

Your insurer, for paying and managing claims. You, through the portal and the explanation of benefits. The plan's subscriber, if the EOB is addressed to them. Not your employer: employers that sponsor plans receive aggregate data, not individual claims, and HIPAA prohibits the plan from sharing your information with the employer for employment decisions. Not future health insurers: the ACA prohibits using health history to deny or price coverage. Life and disability insurers may ask about mental-health history on applications and may request records with your authorization; that is the one area where a diagnosis on record can come up, and it is a question to consider rather than a reason to avoid care.

Dependents: the explanation-of-benefits problem

If you are covered under a parent's or spouse's plan, the EOB for your therapy may be mailed to the subscriber, naming the provider and the service. Options: ask the insurer to send EOBs to you directly or electronically to your own portal account - many plans allow this, and several states require it on request for sensitive services; ask the platform whether it can suppress paper EOBs; or self-pay. Students on a parent's plan should raise this at signup.

Insurance data vs marketing data

Two different things get called "privacy". Insurance claims are health information under HIPAA, handled by covered entities with legal obligations. Marketing and analytics data - what you clicked, your signup answers used for advertising - is governed by consumer-protection law and the platform's privacy policy. betterhelp's 2023 FTC settlement concerned the second category: past sharing of user data with advertising platforms, not the content of therapy or insurance claims. Read the privacy policy for the marketing question; read this section for the insurance question; they are separate.

An explanation of benefits (EOB) is the insurer's statement of what was billed, what the plan allowed, what it paid and what you owe; it is not a bill. A denied claim is a decision you can appeal, and most therapy denials are coding or eligibility errors that a phone call fixes. Formal appeals exist for the rest, with parity law on your side.

Reading the EOB

• Billed amount: the provider's list price.
• Allowed amount: the contracted rate; the number your cost-sharing is based on.
• Applied to deductible: what counted toward your deductible this claim.
• Plan paid: the insurer's share.
• Patient responsibility: what you owe the provider - your copay, coinsurance or deductible portion.
• Remark codes: the explanations, in insurer shorthand, for anything not paid.

If patient responsibility is higher than the copay you expected, the usual reasons are that the deductible applied, that the provider was out of network, or that the claim was coded as something other than outpatient psychotherapy.

Common reasons therapy claims are denied

1. Eligibility. The plan was inactive on the date of service, or the member ID was entered wrong.
2. Out of network. The clinician was not credentialed with your specific plan, even if the platform works with the insurer.
3. Coding. A missing telehealth modifier, a mismatched diagnosis code, or a procedure code the plan does not recognize for telehealth.
4. Authorization. A required prior authorization was not obtained.
5. Duplicate claim. The same session submitted twice.
6. Medical necessity. Rare for routine outpatient therapy; more common for extended treatment or testing.

The fix, in order

1. Call the platform's billing support first. Most denials are fixed by resubmitting with corrected details, and the platform has the claim.
2. Call the insurer with the claim number and ask for the specific denial reason and what would make the claim payable.
3. Internal appeal. Every plan has one, with a deadline - often 180 days from the denial. Submit in writing with the EOB, a note from your therapist on medical necessity if relevant, and a plain statement of why the denial is wrong. Mention parity if the plan's treatment of therapy differs from medical care.
4. External review. If the internal appeal fails, ACA-compliant plans must offer an independent external review.
5. Regulators. State insurance department for fully insured plans; US Department of Labor for employer self-funded plans; Medicare's own appeal process for Medicare. Parity complaints go to the same places.

Keep care going while you appeal. Platforms will usually continue at self-pay rates and refund or credit if the appeal succeeds; ask about that policy up front.

A single phone call to the number on your insurance card, with the questions below, answers everything an eligibility check might miss. Write the answers down with the date and the representative's name; if a claim later goes wrong, that note is your evidence.

The script

1. "Does my plan cover outpatient mental-health visits - psychotherapy - with a licensed therapist?"
2. "Is telehealth psychotherapy covered at the same cost-sharing as an office visit? Are audio-only sessions covered?"
3. "Is [platform name] in-network for my plan? If you cannot see the platform, can you check a specific clinician by name or NPI?"
4. "What is my copay or coinsurance for outpatient mental-health visits, and does my deductible apply? How much of my deductible remains?"
5. "Is prior authorization required for outpatient psychotherapy? Is there a visit limit?"
6. "Do I have out-of-network benefits for mental health? What is the out-of-network deductible and coinsurance?"
7. "Are psychiatric evaluation and medication-management visits covered, and at what cost-sharing?"
8. "Can explanations of benefits be sent to me directly rather than the subscriber?" (if you are a dependent)
9. "Can you give me a reference number for this call?"

Questions for the platform

1. "Which of my sessions are billed to insurance - live sessions only, or messaging too?"
2. "What happens if a claim is denied - will you re-bill, and what would I owe?"
3. "Can I get an itemized statement or superbill with CPT and diagnosis codes?"
4. "If I switch therapists, will the new one also be in-network with my plan?"
5. "How do I pause or cancel, and what happens to billing if I do?"

The same rules produce very different answers for different people. These six illustrative scenarios show how the decisions in this guide play out; the dollar figures for plan terms are examples, and the platform facts are the verified ones used throughout.

1. Maya, 29, employer PPO with a $25 specialist copay, deductible does not apply to office visits

Runs the Talkspace check: in-network, copay in the published $0 to $30 range. Also checks her EAP - six free sessions she never knew about. Path: EAP sessions first, then Talkspace on insurance at her copay. Cost for a year of weekly therapy: her copay times roughly forty-six sessions.

2. Daniel, 41, high-deductible plan with an HSA, $3,000 deductible untouched

Every in-network session would cost the full allowed amount until the deductible is met. Compares: in-network at the allowed rate paid from his HSA (pre-tax, and it builds toward the deductible other care will use), versus a Talkspace messaging-only plan at $69 per week self-pay. Chooses in-network from the HSA because he expects other medical costs this year; if he did not, messaging-only self-pay would be cheaper until the deductible was met.

3. Priya, 22, on her parents' plan, does not want them to see therapy on an EOB

Asks the insurer to send EOBs to her own portal account; the plan allows it. If it had not, she would self-pay - betterhelp with the financial-aid questionnaire, or a Talkspace messaging plan - and keep it off the family's claims entirely.

4. Robert, 68, Original Medicare with a Medigap plan

Medicare Part B covers telehealth therapy from home; after the Part B deductible, the 20% coinsurance is covered by his Medigap plan, so sessions are effectively $0. Talkspace lists Medicare; he runs the check, confirms the clinician accepts assignment, and chooses phone sessions because he finds video tiring.

5. Elena, 35, Medicaid managed-care plan

Runs both platform checks with her managed-care plan details; neither is in-network in her state. Calls member services, gets a list of in-network telehealth providers, and books with a community mental-health center that offers video sessions at $0 copay. Keeps the platform option in mind in case the network changes.

6. James and Sam, couples therapy, both insured

Neither plan covers relationship counseling without a diagnosed condition in one partner. They choose Talkspace's couples plan at $109 per week self-pay, paid from James's FSA, and ask for a statement in case either plan's rules change. Our couples therapy guide covers what sessions look like.

You can move from self-pay to insurance, or from insurance to self-pay, without changing therapists on most platforms - as long as the clinician is credentialed with your plan. The common triggers are a new job, a new plan year, a deductible that gets met, a coverage change at the platform, or a decision to keep therapy off your claims record. Plan the switch at a billing boundary and tell both the platform and your therapist.

Self-pay to insurance

Run the eligibility check with your current plan details - coverage lists change, and a platform that was out of network last year may be in network now. If covered, ask the platform to convert your account to insurance billing from the next session and confirm your therapist is in-network with your plan; if not, you can usually request a re-match to one who is, or keep your therapist and continue self-pay. Expect your subscription to be cancelled and replaced with per-session copay billing, and check for any unused-session credit.

Insurance to self-pay

The reverse is simpler: ask the platform to stop billing your insurer and move you to a self-pay plan. People do this when they lose coverage, when a deductible makes in-network sessions more expensive than a messaging plan, or when they decide the claims record matters more than the copay. Talkspace's self-pay tiers start at $69 per week; betterhelp's financial-aid questionnaire applies to its subscription. If you are mid-course with a therapist, keeping them is worth more than the price difference; ask what self-pay looks like with the same clinician before switching platforms.

When your employer plan changes

Open enrollment, a new job or a change in your employer's insurer can move your platform in or out of network overnight. The week your new coverage starts, re-run the eligibility check and re-ask the deductible question; a new plan year usually means a reset deductible. If the new plan drops your platform, your EAP may bridge a few sessions while you decide between self-pay and a covered platform.

Keeping the records straight

Download your statements before any switch. If you self-paid and later gain out-of-network benefits, superbills for past sessions can sometimes still be submitted within the plan's filing window. If you move from insurance to self-pay, make sure no further claims go out; a claim billed after you asked for self-pay is a billing error worth fixing the same week.

Federal law sets the floor - parity, essential health benefits, Medicare rules - but four things about therapy coverage are decided state by state: which clinicians can treat you (licensing), what Medicaid covers and through which plans, whether state law requires commercial plans to cover telehealth and audio-only visits on equal terms, and whether you can have explanations of benefits sent to you rather than the subscriber. Those four explain most of the difference between two people on the "same" national plan in different states.

• Licensing. Your therapist must be licensed where you are physically located; interstate compacts for psychologists and, increasingly, counselors are widening that. Larger platform networks mean more in-network clinicians in your state.
• Medicaid. Benefits, telehealth rules and managed-care networks differ by state; community mental-health centers are the dependable fallback everywhere.
• Telehealth parity laws. Many states require state-regulated commercial plans to cover telehealth on equal terms with in-person care, and some extend that to audio-only; self-funded employer plans follow federal rules instead. If your plan treats telehealth differently, your state insurance department can tell you whether a state law applies.
• Confidential communications. Several states require insurers to honor a request to send EOBs and other communications to the patient rather than the subscriber for sensitive services, which matters for dependents.

Our state-by-state pages cover licensing, insurance and the platforms serving each state, from California and Texas to Florida and New York.

Most of the money people lose on therapy coverage is lost before the first session: comparing subscription prices before checking coverage, forgetting the EAP, assuming "takes insurance" means their plan, not asking whether the deductible applies, and never submitting the superbill they were entitled to. Each takes minutes to avoid.

1. Comparing self-pay prices first

A $0 to $30 copay beats every subscription. Run the eligibility checks on each platform, then compare what is left.

2. Never asking about the EAP

Free sessions, confidential, no deductible. One email to HR.

3. Assuming "accepts insurance" includes your plan

It means specific plans, confirmed per member. Enter your actual details; do not infer from a logo.

4. Not asking whether the deductible applies

The difference between $25 a session and $120 a session for the first three months. One question.

5. Starting a deductible plan in November

If the start date is flexible and your plan applies a deductible, starting in January means the sessions count toward a full year of deductible. If care is needed now, start now - this is a cost note, not a clinical one.

6. Paying out of network without claiming

If your plan has out-of-network benefits, a superbill gets part of the fee back. Ask for the statement; upload it to the portal.

7. Assuming couples therapy is covered

Usually it is not. Budget for self-pay - Talkspace's couples plan is $109 per week - and ask about family-therapy billing only if one partner has a covered diagnosis.

8. Ignoring the explanation of benefits

A wrong charge sits unfixed until someone reads the EOB. Read it; call if it does not match the copay you were quoted.

9. Letting a denial end treatment

Most denials are clerical. Call the platform, call the insurer, appeal in writing. Keep care going at self-pay in the meantime.

10. Letting privacy worries stop care

If the claims record is the concern, self-pay solves it. The decision is between insured therapy and self-pay therapy, never between therapy and no therapy.

The terms that appear on insurance cards, summaries of benefits and EOBs, defined for therapy specifically.

Platform facts in this guide - which insurers each platform names, published copay ranges, self-pay prices and Trustpilot ratings - are the ones verified for our platform reviews and audits, quoted exactly; where a figure is not verified, the guide says so. Statements about how insurance works draw on federal law and public program rules - the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, the Affordable Care Act's essential health benefits, Medicare Part B's mental-health and telehealth coverage, the No Surprises Act and HIPAA - and are kept general enough to be true across plans, because the specifics of any one plan live in its summary of benefits.

• Illustrative numbers are labeled. Every worked example uses made-up plan terms to show the arithmetic; none is a platform's rate.
• Verified platform facts. Talkspace's insurer list, copay range and self-pay prices were checked in October 2026. betterhelp's copay figure is the one the company cites for covered members. Trustpilot scores were captured from the live profiles in August 2026.
• Rules that change. Medicare's telehealth in-person requirement and federal telemedicine prescribing rules for controlled substances have both changed more than once; the guide says so and tells you where to check.
• Medical review. Medical and scientific statements across this site are reviewed under our medical review policy. Insurance mechanics, prices and platform selection are editorial.
• Commission disclosure. We may earn a commission when you sign up through a platform link; it does not affect which platform we recommend for your coverage, and we say when self-pay or a community clinic is the better answer.

Found an error, or a plan that behaves differently from what is described? Tell us through the contact page and we will correct it.

Insurance covers online therapy for most people, and the amount you pay comes down to three questions: is the platform in your network, does your deductible apply, and what is your copay. Talkspace answers those best for most insured people - many major plans, Medicare, TRICARE, EAPs, copays typically $0 to $30 and psychiatry under the same coverage. betterhelp now accepts insurance with copays from around $23 and remains the flexible self-pay option with financial aid. headspace's therapy service accepts insurance; its app does not need to.

Do the four things that cost nothing before you pay anyone: ask HR about your EAP, run every platform's eligibility check, read the mental-health line of your summary of benefits, and - if you are a dependent - ask where the explanations of benefits go. Then choose: covered platform at copay rates if you have one; self-pay with a superbill, financial aid or a messaging plan if you do not; a community clinic if you are on Medicaid and no platform is in-network. Keep the EOBs, appeal the clerical denials, and never let a billing question stand between you and care.

For the platform decision itself, our insurance-friendly platforms comparison ranks the options, and our complete guide to online therapy covers everything beyond the billing. This guide is general information about insurance and is not medical, legal or financial advice; your plan documents and your insurer are the authority on your coverage. If you are in crisis in the US, call or text 988, or call 911 in immediate danger.