Billing Policy

A close up of some sunflowers in the sun

Billing Philosophy and Policies

Like all practices, the Hudson Valley Center for Development bills for its services, most typically (though not always) while working in network with your insurance plan.  To avoid any surprises or dissatisfaction with our practices, we are listing our billing philosophy and some of our most important policies here on our website, so that prospective and/or current clients might review these and make an informed decision about whether they wish to be seen at our Center.

Billing Philosophy

Once it is agreed that treatment will begin (most typically this consists of weekly counseling or therapy sessions), our clinician will commit a regular time to the child/family or adult client.  This time ‘belongs’ to the client until the client or family informs us that they are terminating treatment.  Since we are primarily an insurance-based practice, we bill according to insurance company requirements (i.e. – the insurance company will tell us you have a copay, coinsurance, deductible, etc., and we will bill you what we are informed is your responsibility under your plan terms).  We are not in control of the type of insurance plan you have or what is your responsibility in terms of payment.  If you are out of network different policies apply, and you can ask us about these.

Because we are committing a weekly session to you or to your child – and we do not give this time to anyone else – we expect the same commitment from our clients.  We will maintain the availability of the time slot until we are told you no longer wish to be in treatment.  Of course, if we have concerns about your decision to stop receiving services, we will make recommendations to you and offer referrals to other providers if indicated.  We see the therapy as a mutually committed relationship, which by necessity includes a financial component.

Billing Practices – PLEASE READ

(Please Note: This is not a comprehensive list of our billing policies but contains various important requirements.  We ask that you read them carefully)

We have various policies to which you must agree – in writing - to receive services here:  

  1. We require all clients to maintain an active, working credit card on file at all times.  The credit card will be billed for covered and uncovered charges.  A debit card cannot be used for this purpose – only credit cards are accepted.
  2. If you are being seen in network with an insurance plan, we will bill your credit card for expenses according to statements we receive from your insurance company.  For example, if we receive a statement from an insurance company stating that they have processed three sessions and the client responsibility is $60 for each session, we will bill $180 on that day for these charges.  We are not able to spread-out payments over any period.
  3. We allow for 2-4 non-billable cancelled sessions each year (these non-billable cancellations require 24 hours’ notice) depending on whether the case is a child or adult.  After the threshold has been reached – we will bill an ‘administrative fee’ for any canceled session.  We will also bill this ‘administrative fee’ for any session that is simply missed without a phone call or notice of any kind.  The ‘administrative fee’ ranges from $75-$90 and will be specified to you at the beginning of treatment.  This will be billed to your credit card on file.
  4. If a client decides to terminate treatment but does not inform the clinician or the practice, we will continue to bill the ‘administrative fee’ for missed sessions until we determine that the client is not returning.  This can take several weeks.  Clients wishing to end billing immediately need to verbally inform the practice that they are terminating treatment immediately.  We will cease billing once we are informed the client is no longer returning to treatment.
  5. We believe in ethical and clinically appropriate terminations, even if a client is not paying their bills.  We will provide free pretermination counseling and referrals for all clients needing to terminate treatment due to financial concerns.

Our billing practices are more fully outlined in our formal billing policies, which are provided at the beginning of treatment and to which every client must agree to receive services at HVCD.  If you are a current client and you need a copy of our full billing policies, please write to Jeanene Stanchich at admin@hudsonvalleycenter.net and she will provide you with a copy.

FOR NEW AND PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS: We encourage you to read and re-read these policies carefully.  We believe them to be fair and reasonable.  However, we do not expect that everyone will necessarily agree.  If you feel you cannot - or do not wish to - meet your responsibilities under these policies, there are other clinicians and practices in the area who may have less restrictive practices and we will be able to give you names and contact information.  Please call us at (845) 787-1350 and we will provide the necessary referrals.