As soon as I heard the announcement that Telus Health was making their e-filing available to counsellors in June, I immediately signed up for the opportunity to take part in direct billing for psychotherapy/counselling clients. After a month of waiting, I’m finally in their system… and I realized, it’s still a confusing mess and there is a lack of information for professionals. There has been no official list that I can find of insurance companies accepting counsellors for e-filing, and my practice manager Noterro has yet to add counsellors to their list for integration. I’ve submitted a support ticket, and in the meantime, I must continue waiting for these things to be ironed out. Yet, as I try to communicate insurance coverage with potential clients I am scrambling to figure out what this means for the practical use of the service. Right now, the only way to check if an insurance provider is offering this service is to click individually on their predetermination and see if they provide access for counsellors. Annoying, and yet, I felt compelled to do so because this information is pertinent to the field.
The following insurers are listed as allowing predetermination. I cannot guarantee that any of these insurers will work, but I am assuming that the lack of an error message indicates eligibility. Since this is only a list of insurance companies that offer predetermination, those that are not listed may or may not be eligible for direct billing for counsellors.
- Alberta Blue Cross
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - Beneva Inc.
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - BPA – Benefit Plan Administrators
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - Canada Life
DID NOT allow access to the predetermination page with the following message:
“The Insurance Company does not currently allow the electronic submission for this Healthcare Role and/or License Issuer. Please submit a manual claim. (Counsellor).” - Canada Life – PSHCP
DID NOT allow access to the predetermination page with the following message:
“The Insurance Company does not currently allow the electronic submission for this Healthcare Role and/or License Issuer. Please submit a manual claim. (Counsellor).” - Canadian Construction Workers Union
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - Chambers of Commerce Group Insurance
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - CINUP
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - ClaimSecure
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - Coughlin & Associates Ltd.
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - D.A. Townley
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - Desjardins Insurance
DID NOT allow access to the predetermination page with the following message:
“The Insurance Company does not currently allow the electronic submission for this Healthcare Role and/or License Issuer. Please submit a manual claim. (Counsellor).” - First Canadian
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - GroupHEALTH
DID NOT allow access to the predetermination page with the following message:
“The Insurance Company does not currently allow the electronic submission for this Healthcare Role and/or License Issuer. Please submit a manual claim. (Counsellor).” - GroupSource
DID NOT allow access to the predetermination page with the following message:
“The Insurance Company does not currently allow the electronic submission for this Healthcare Role and/or License Issuer. Please submit a manual claim. (Counsellor).” - Johnston Group Inc.
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - LiUNA Local 183
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - LiUNA Local 506
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - Manion
DID NOT allow access to the predetermination page with the following message:
“The Insurance Company does not currently allow the electronic submission for this Healthcare Role and/or License Issuer. Please submit a manual claim. (Counsellor).” - Maximum Benefit
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - MDM Insurance Services Inc.
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - RWAM Insurance Administrators
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - Simply Benefits
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - TELUS AdjudiCare
Allowed access to the predetermination page. - Union Benefits
Allowed access to the predetermination page.
For insurance companies that do not yet offer this service, I recommend emailing them and encouraging them to participate in direct billing. Adequate mental health care is something that should not be discouraged by insurers, and it is my hope that we will eventually see more coverage for the profession.
Click here if you’d like to view a sample letter to send to insurance companies.
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