1. Call your health insurance provider (usually this number is on the back of your health insurance card). 

2. Ask whether you have out-of-network benefits specifically for mental health. 

3. Ask whether you need prior authorization. 

4. Ask whether you have an out-of-network mental health deductible, and, if so, ask how much it is and how much of it has been met so far.

5. Ask what percentage your health insurance provider will cover per mental health session once they begin reimbursing you (i.e. once you meet your out-of-network mental health deductible). 

6. Confirm that they cover CPT code 90834 (this is the medical code I bill under). 

7. Ask what the maximum $ amount per mental health session is that they consider "reasonable". (Sometimes, it's $100, which means that they reimburse a percent of $100; other times, it's much higher, which means that they would cover more. They may not answer this question, because they often don't like to give out this information.)

8. Ask how many mental health sessions per year are covered (sometimes, it's unlimited).

9. Ask how you get reimbursed / submit a claim for reimbursement. Ask how many days it takes for the claim for reimbursement to be processed and for the reimbursement to be sent to you.

10. Ask what your plan's out-of-network out-of-pocket maximum is — meaning, once you hit a certain $ amount of out-of-network out-of-pocket payments (for example: $2,000), you may be eligible for 100% reimbursement of out-of-network costs.