Making Wellspring an Affordable Investment for All Families
Wellspring works hard to make our Academies an affordable investment with:
1) Insurance reimbursement
2) Loans to spread the cost into easy monthly payments
3) Tax deductions to reduce your taxable income
1). Call Wellspring to Discuss Insurance Reimbursement Coverage
Many Wellspring families receive health insurance reimbursement for a significant portion of tuition paid because individual and group cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions are central to the Wellspring program. The clinical component of Wellspring Academies includes a psychological assessment and four cognitive-behavioral counseling sessions per week: two individual and two group sessions.
At the end of each month, your child’s Behavioral Coach will submit a statement for that month’s therapy sessions to your health insurance. The statement won’t come from Wellspring. It will come from the therapist. And the behavioral statement won’t be coded for weight loss, but rather for the behavioral issues most commonly diagnosed at Wellspring. Two issues diagnosed frequently are depression and eating disorder.
The typical statement amount is $2,000 for the first month and $1,500 for subsequent months. Families with PPO plans are more likely to receive reimbursement for a portion of the clinical component of the program (an estimated $2,000 for the first month, and $1,500 for all subsequent months). They should not expect full reimbursement, nor should they base their decision to enroll upon such reimbursement.
Because health insurance plans vary greatly, Wellspring cannot guarantee that any portion of a student’s tuition will be reimbursed by health insurance providers.
It is important for families to contact Wellspring before calling your insurance provider about insurance coverage. Wellspring can help you navigate a conversation with your insurer to determine your coverage and likely reimbursement.
Questions to Consider in Determining Likely Reimbursement from Health Insurance:
1. Do you have out-of-network medical and/or mental health benefits?
2. Is there an additional deductible with either?
3. Is pre-authorization and/or pre-certification required, and if so, what is required? (Wellspring will use best efforts to ascertain this and, where possible, ensure that treatment is preauthorized.)
Please note:
• Individual sessions are billed at a rate of $90 to $135, depending on length (typically one $90 and one $135 session per week).
• Group sessions are billed at a rate of $72 per (typically two group sessions per week).
• The assessment is billed at a rate of $500 (typically one assessment).
Reimbursement will be sent to Wellspring, and Wellspring will immediately process a check for the amount of the reimbursement received, less a 6% administrative fee paid by Wellspring to the insurance billing service.
2). Student Loans for Easy Monthly Payments
Because Wellspring Academies are a qualifying educational institution, families are able to take out student loans – the same type of loans you would take out to pay for college. Approximately 1/3 of Wellspring families take advantage of the student loan program.
If you’re interested in determining if you would qualify for a student loan, we work with an independent loan organization called Custom Educational Loans.
Student loans can cover the entire tuition, including transportation to and from the program. They feature very low interest rates, a 20-year amortization period, and deferral of payments for up to 6 months with no prepayment penalties or cancellation fees.
With many loan companies to choose from and because the loan qualification and application process can be confusing, Wellspring recommends Custom Educational Loans. They work with hundreds of Wellspring families each year to help guide them through the loan qualification and application process. Even if you don’t qualify for a loan, they will advise ways in which you might qualify, including having a relative co-sign the loan with you. Typically, Custom Educational Loans can complete the process within 48 hours.
If you are interested in a student loan, please contact Custom Educational Loans and tell them you’re interested in being qualified for a student loan to attend a Wellspring Academy.
Please click here to request more information >>
Custom Educational Loans
1101 East Lakeshore
Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814
Phone (888) 755-3079
Fax (208) 676-1702
3). Tax Deduction
On April 2, 2002, the IRS announced a new policy (IRS Ruling 202-19) stating that "Obesity is medically accepted to be a disease in its own right." For taxpayers, this means that treatment specifically for obesity can now be claimed as a medical deduction following a referral from a physician.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc502.html
