Clients
Clinic Updates
If you are a client who has had a Preferred One insurance plan, your plan has or will be changing over to a UnitedHealthcare plan at the end of your policy plan year.
Our Nurse Practitioners are all in network with UnitedHealthcare but there are many of our therapy providers who are not in network and are unable to bill with your new United Healthcare plan. A few options to continue with your therapist are:
- Talk with your new insurance company and ask for an exception to continue with your therapist.
2. Check your out-of-network benefits to see if they will cover part of your session.
3. RVBHWC offers a sliding fee scale. Please contact our billing department at billing@rivervalleybhwc.com to discuss this as an option.
4. If you are unable to continue with your current therapist please contact your insurance company for a list of providers that are credentialed with your new insurance.
Please take a look to see if you have received new insurance information in the mail or any changeover information from your employer.
For more information on this change, please visit the Preferred One Website link below.
Important Reminders for the new year:
- Everyone will be required to fill out the annual consent form.
- Most insurance plan deductibles will reset on January 1, 2023. If you are on a deductible plan you will have a balance due beyond your copay until your deductible is met.
- Your balance cannot exceed $250.
- All clients are required to have a credit card on file. If you have a balance your card will be ran on the day of your appointment. In addition, all outstanding balances are ran on the 15th and 30th of every month. Having a credit card on file will:
- Keep balances low
- Allow our independent contractors get paid in a consistent manner
- Give more time to our awesome billing and administrative staff to focus in other areas ultimately making your visit a better experience
- Keep balances low
Please review the service agreement guide for more clarification:
Important Insurance Definitions to Know
Coordination of Benefits (COB) Denial: A denial from your insurance company or companies wanting you to contact them and complete a short questionnaire about coverage. To complete a coordination of benefits please contact your insurance company or companies to complete the coordination of benefits and then contact River Valley so that we may reprocess your claims, failure to do so risks issues and making you responsible for all balances owed.
Contractual Allowance: The difference between the amount charged for a service and the amount that is allowed for the service by the insurance company.
Co-Insurance/Copay or Co-Payment/Deductible: The amount owed by a patient after the insurance company pays its required amount. Client can have one of these or more than one on their plan.
Max Out of Pocket: The most a client pays for covered services within a plan year.
We highly encourage all clients to contact their insurance companies and learn about their plan's individual benefits.
Good Faith Estimate
Beginning January 1, 2022, federal laws regulating client care have been updated to include the “No Surprises” Act. You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical care will cost. Under the law, healthcare providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services called a “Good Faith Estimate” (GFE) explaining how much your medical care will cost.
- You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees.
- Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service.
- If you receive a bill that is at least $500 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.
- Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call 1-800-985-3059.
Clinic FAQ
There are forms to be completed for therapy and medication appointments separately. If you would like to complete paperwork at the office, please arrive 30 minutes prior to your appointment. If you would like to download intake forms from our website, please complete them, bring them to your appointment, and arrive 10 minutes prior to your appointment.
Keeping scheduled appointments is important to preserve time for those who need it. As a result of the many reasons for late cancellations (less than 24 hours in advance, not including Saturdays, Sundays, and Holidays), we have identified only two exceptions to the policy:
- Closing of the school district due to weather in your district and/or in Savage/Prior Lake district.
- Hospital admission for any medical reason.
If either of these conditions are present, no fee will be charged. For any other reason, including unexpected illness, the aforementioned cancellation fee will be applied.
To read the full Cancellation Policy, please reference our client service agreement guide:
Assessments are unique to the individual. We schedule a 60-minute intake session for all assessments to evaluate current symptoms, functioning, and needs for testing. At the end of that session, a plan for psychological testing will be developed. Insurance varies regarding coverage for assessments. Preauthorization for testing will be completed by the provider prior to testing. If testing is not approved, we will discuss with you the client financial responsibility. Court-Ordered evaluations may or may not be covered by insurance, depending on the plan.
Yes, research shows that therapy coupled with a tailored medication plan is effective for managing symptoms. With client consent, our providers collaborate with outside providers to provide the best possible care.
We suggest you schedule an intake appointment with a trained therapist first, who will conduct a comprehensive intake tailored to the your individual needs.
Payment is to be made at the time services are rendered. Here is our list of accepted in-network insurance and payment options:
- Blue Cross/Blue Shield
- Health Partners
- Cigna
- Preferred One
- Medica/UBH
- Aetna
- SelectCare
- Medicare
- MA/Medicaid
- Tricare/Triwest
- Behavioral Health Systems
- Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
- Private Pay
- Sliding Fees
- South Country Health Alliance
- Other medical insurances out-of-network
You may need to obtain prior authorization to obtain your reimbursement. Be sure to check your individual insurance plan and "Know Your Definitions" for additional coverage information.
Yes, you may request your personal medical records but be advised that under HIPAA, a therapist may deny a patient or their personal representative access to psychotherapy notes. This is different than if you requested your notes specifically from your nurse practitioner. If you do request you records, you have two options for retrieval. You may have the records sent to you through USPS Certified Mail. For mailing the records there is a fee based on the amount of records:
Under 20 pages = $5.00
20-50 pages = $10.00
50-100 = $15.00
50+ = $20.00
You may also request that the records get sent you through and encrypted email. A test on the email will need to be run prior to sending the records. There is no fee for records sent through email. Please allow up to 7 business days for delivery of records.
***It is RVBHWC policy to have all records requests in writing by filling out a Release of Information (ROI), even if the request is the client for their own record.***
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