Teletherapy FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Who Can Get Teletherapy with Dr. Siders?
Dr. Siders is currently only licensed in the state of California, so you must be in California to do teletherapy with him. Please contact us to inquire about whether Dr. Siders is taking new patients. Knowing this is a rough time for some people, if you are a good fit for his areas of expertise, he is doing his best to fit new clients in.
How Do I Get Technical Support for Teletherapy?
You may contact us, or you may see our Technical Support page.
Does My Insurance Cover Therapy Using Teletherapy?
The short answer is: it depends. None of the information we have on this Web site or communicate to you is a guarantee of coverage. It is just the best information we have available. We are working with insurance companies to check whether they will cover teletherapy. Some plans already allow for teletherapy. Others are adding it for the COVID-19 quarantine period. So far, here is what we understand is being done (and please bear with us, as things are changing quickly):
- Medicare is adding a temporary benefit to cover teletherapy during the period of national emergency.
- Cigna has had some teledoctor benefits, with restrictions, and some of those restrictions are currently being waived and the teletherapy benefit is being extended to most plans through May 31st, 2020.
- Anthem Blue Cross discusses teletherapy here: https://www.anthem.com/ca/blog/member-news/how-to-protect/.
- We haven’t heard from other insurance companies, but we are starting to check our clients’ coverage individually.
Many of their plans appear to be waiving member copays.