Suzanne’s Story

Suzanne is a marriage and family therapist, and the executive director of the One Life Counseling Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit operating from three different offices in Silicon Valley and at schools in the community.

Our center is not contracted with any insurance providers except for Medi-Cal and we have a lot of clients who have out-of-network claims that they file after having services with us. Sometimes we get involved. I either provide them a HCFA (Health Care Financing Administration) form or a superbill. Sometimes I send the form to the insurance company for them or they take the superbill and do it by themselves.

“In my experience, no one ever receives a payment that is not complicated by something.”

Even if we fill out the forms perfectly, they still get caught in the system and the insurance company comes back asking for something that has already been given. Is it really worth the time to stay on the phone for hours and hours and hours trying to get a reimbursement? It just not beneficial.

The cost of living on the Peninsula is devastatingly high. If people need out-of-network therapy, it is really difficult for them to pay for it, and to get back the money they are owed is frustrating and time consuming. That’s where the Better app hits the sweet spot for my clients. It’s easy for them to get reimbursed on insurance claims and hassle free. That’s why Better is super helpful.

I have used Better myself. I had this therapy claim for 2 years, fighting United Behavioral Health to get paid. I spent hours on the phone with UBH. I resubmitted the claim. I tried to do a corrected claim with all of the information that they requested but month after month after month it wasn’t getting processed until I reached out to Better. They filed the claim and sure enough, within a week my claim was accepted. I recently received a check for $744! Better is effective. It’s streamlined. It saves a lot of mental health issues caused by the stress of filing claims. What more can I say?

They filed the claim and sure enough, within a week my claim was accepted. I recently received a check for $744!

Better is effective.

I also work with financially secure, tech industry clients who pay out-of-pocket. They don’t want to hassle with insurance and don’t see trying to get reimbursed as time spent wisely. They don’t want to be dealing with faxes and phone calls. But if it’s an application, a technology platform, people in Silicon Valley get it. You spend $1,000 per month on therapy or other healthcare services. Here’s an app. Just take a photo of your bill and press send. They get that.

Better offers more access to healthcare and every therapist needs to know about it. It is another way of lowering barriers to treatment. You could have patients do this on a monthly basis. I’m going to put Better on my website and say to my clients: just send your out-of-network claims to them. That will be phenomenal!