Mental Health

This part of the website tells you how to get insurers like MassHealth to pay for your or your family’s mental health services. We do not talk about how to get onto MassHealth or where to get free services. We do answer questions about how to get services paid for once you have public or private insurance.

You may want to read the sections in order:

• Who pays for your mental health care?
• How do I figure out who my insurer is?
• Who decides what mental health services I get?
• Who decides whether my mental health care services are paid for?
• How can I make sure I get the services I want?
• What if the insurance company refuses to authorize payment for the services my provider asks for?
  
• How to protect insurance appeal rights

If you get MassHealth:

• How do I appeal a denial by MassHealth?
• Massachusetts Behavioral Health Partnership (MBHP) appeals
• What if MBHP or my MassHealth HMO denies my appeal?
  

If you have private insurance:

• Appealing a denial of care by a private insurance company
• Mental Health Parity
• What if the private insurer denies my appeal?

For both private insurance and MassHealth:

• What happens when the therapist or doctor you want is not part of the insurer's network of providers?