Psych Eval Cost.. is this normal?

[NotActive1234 26]

Hey Everyone!

I am in the process of doing all my pre-op appointments and testing. I have my upper GI x-ray tomorrow morning and then my psych eval on Tuesday. After that, I am done! (YAY!) I received an email from the psychologist that is going to be doing my evaluation and she told me how much it is going to cost. The appointment is supposed to be between 2-3 hours long (first half talking to psychologist and second half doing assessments) and she is charging around $575 after insurance.

My insurance is a $1500 deductible and then after insurance, I have to pay a 20% coinsurance until I am at my out of pocket maximum of $3000. Before the appointment, I am about $500 away from my deductible. So I know anything after that will go towards my out of pocket maximum. I understand that the surgery process is expensive and in the long run, I'm still meeting my deductible and out-of-pocket maximum, but $575 just seemed like a lot of money. I am just curious if other people had to pay around this much or this amount is way out of the ball-park. If anyone has any insight, I would greatly appreciate it!

[SusieQ2019 567]

Paying $575.00 seems high to me.

My insurance does not cover the psychological so I did mine as part of a study group and it was free. (I got a free Fitbit) and if I am selected as part of the group I would earn $180.00. I had know idea about the $180.00 but I will take it. I just wanted the free evaluation. The process took about 4 hrs in total. If I had chosen not to the the study it would have been $100 for one hour. Someone I know paid $150.00 and the maximum as far as I know from another hospital was $200.

[J'sJourney 14]

I haven't met my deductible yet, so I paid $200 out of pocket for a 15 minute video conference.

[gabybab 696]

Omg no! I paid $150! My Dr had me do it online. You take an assessment and they call and it takes like 15 minutes. Bariatric Phsyc evaluation.

[gabybab 696]

Bariatricpsychevaluations.com

[Bootscraper 56]

Wow that seems high. Mine was $70 for an hour in person interview. Can you choose another psych provider?? Your surgeon might have suggestions for providers they work with regularly.

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[NotActive1234 26]

Thanks for the link gabybab. Unfortunately my surgeon requires in person evaluations. Bootscraper, the provider is actually one of their recommended offices to the eval. I’m tempted to call the coordinator of my program and ask her if this is normal. Part of me feels like the psychologist is just charging me the most she can because she knows I will have to meet my insurance anyway so why not make the most money off me. My husband and Mom are of the thought process that I’m going to meet my deductible and out of pocket maximum anyway so why does it matter in the end who gets the money as long as it counts.

[LW101 11]

I did not have to pay anything, they are holding it until my deductible is met. Meaning I shouldn’t owe anything. That seems too expensive

[Everything 388]

I was self-pay and did the online version. I wanted to say it cost 250

[PALOMABELLA 45]

Hey Everyone!
I am in the process of doing all my pre-op appointments and testing. I have my upper GI x-ray tomorrow morning and then my psych eval on Tuesday. After that, I am done! (YAY!) I received an email from the psychologist that is going to be doing my evaluation and she told me how much it is going to cost. The appointment is supposed to be between 2-3 hours long (first half talking to psychologist and second half doing assessments) and she is charging around $575 after insurance.
My insurance is a $1500 deductible and then after insurance, I have to pay a 20% coinsurance until I am at my out of pocket maximum of $3000. Before the appointment, I am about $500 away from my deductible. So I know anything after that will go towards my out of pocket maximum. I understand that the surgery process is expensive and in the long run, I'm still meeting my deductible and out-of-pocket maximum, but $575 just seemed like a lot of money. I am just curious if other people had to pay around this much or this amount is way out of the ball-park. If anyone has any insight, I would greatly appreciate it!

That sounds too much. Maybe u should do research first n try a diff psyh. Asking prices first. I just had my psyh. Eval done and i was with this dr only 10 min and he is highly recomended by my surgeon. Yes just 10 min. I was sooo happy.

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[Foxbins 625]

I am a psychologist. Although I don't do bariatric evaluations, if the psychologist you selected is doing an interview with you and assessments (MMPI or some other personality instrument) then I don't believe $575 is too much. Those assessment instruments are expensive to purchase and to score, and there is usually a report that gets written and sent to the surgeon.

[NotActive1234 26]

Thanks Foxbins! I really appreciate your answer. I did end up seeing the psych and I think it was worth it. I ended up being there for about 4 hours which included the interview and 3 assessments.

[toni1881 1]

On 2/21/2019 at 5:14 PM, gabybab said:

Omg no! I paid $150! My Dr had me do it online. You take an assessment and they call and it takes like 15 minutes. Bariatric Phsyc evaluation.

i did this too so glad i found him..the psych I was originally referred to gave me a price of $600 as well with insurance..no way I was doing that

[KateBruin 344]

I paid around $400 for my psych eval. Insurance would have covered it if she took it. Alas, She doesn’t take insurance. Worst part is I loved her so much I’d see her as a regular therapist. I’m in Los Angeles. Big cities = $$

[NotActive1234 26]

12 hours ago, KateBruin said:

I paid around $400 for my psych eval. Insurance would have covered it if she took it. Alas, She doesn’t take insurance. Worst part is I loved her so much I’d see her as a regular therapist. I’m in Los Angeles. Big cities = $$

That's how I felt about the lady that I saw for my psych eval. I really liked her a lot and would definitely considered her as my regular therapist. I know after surgery I will have met my out-of-pocket maximum so maybe I will go see her until the end of the year. Plus I know that her regular sessions aren't that expensive. We did end up doing some longer assessments and I think that is where most of my money went for the eval.