Coverage and cost
Paying for treatment without insurance.
If you are uninsured, or you have coverage and would rather not use it, you still have a right to know what care will cost before it starts. Here is how self-pay works, and what to demand from anyone you are considering — including us.
You are entitled to the number in writing.
Under the federal No Surprises Act, people who are uninsured or who choose not to use their insurance have a right to a good faith estimate of expected charges before care begins. Not a range quoted on the phone, and not a number that arrives with the first bill. A written estimate, in advance.
Ask for it — from us, and from every other program you are considering. A provider that will not put its expected cost in writing before you start is telling you something about how the rest of the relationship is going to go.
What we tell you before you commit.
The point of the process is that you decide with real numbers rather than an estimate that changes later.
- The expected cost of the program you are actually being recommended, in writing
- What would change that number, and what would not
- Whether you have coverage you do not know about — it happens more than people expect
- If we are not the right care, or not affordable for your situation, we say so and point elsewhere
Before you conclude you are uninsured.
Two things catch a lot of people here. The first is the Prepaid Health Care Act: Hawaii has required employers to cover employees working at least twenty hours a week since 1974, which is unique in the country. Some people who believe they have no coverage are in fact covered through work.
The second is Med-QUEST. Eligibility is broader than most people assume, and mental health care is a covered benefit under it. Both are worth checking before you plan around paying out of pocket, and checking them is part of what intake does.
Why there is no price on this page.
Because any number printed here would be fiction. What treatment costs depends on the program you actually need and how long you need it, and a program that publishes one confident figure is either overcharging most people or about to revise it.
What we will commit to in public is the process: you get the real number, in writing, before you agree to anything. That is the part that protects you.
Questions
Straight answers.
What is a good faith estimate?
A written estimate of what your care is expected to cost, which uninsured and self-pay patients have a federal right to receive before treatment begins. It is not a bill and not a contract, but it is a real accountability tool — and a provider’s willingness to produce one tells you a great deal.
Can I use insurance for part of my care and pay for the rest myself?
Sometimes, depending on the plan and the service, and that is one of the things verification works out. What we will not do is let you discover the split after the fact.
Do you offer payment plans?
Ask during intake and you will get a straight answer for your situation rather than a policy paragraph. What we are not going to do on a public page is promise terms we cannot honor for everyone.
Ask for the number first.
It is your right, it costs nothing, and it is the single best question you can put to any treatment program.