Effective January 1, 2022, the No Surprises Act, which Congress passed as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, is designed to protect patients from surprise bills for emergency services at out-of-network facilities or for out-of-network providers at in-network facilities, holding them liable only for in-network cost-sharing amounts. While this is an important protection, it has less relevance for our work together. I am an out of network provider who has no affiliation with any in-network facility. You will never receive any surprise bill from me.
The No Surprises Act also entitles you to receive a good faith estimate of the cost of care. Because psychotherapy is more open-ended than other kinds of medical treatment, it is impossible to accurately predict how long we will work together. Therapy can last from a few sessions to several years. You are invited to continue as long as you find our work together beneficial. I welcome you to regularly and often talk over your experience of our work together. Talking about your experience of our relationship is itself a very important part of therapy. The disclosure statement you and I review at our start clearly indicates my current rate. I reserve the right to increase my fee between five and ten percent each year, but will always give you lots of advanced notice before a fee change. I never wish to let my fee interfere in our efforts together, so I invite you to speak with me about our arrangement so that we can work together to reduce any hardship a fee increase may cause you.