Some practice news that’s genuinely worth announcing: Ontario Therapy now offers direct billing to most major insurance carriers.
If you’ve never had to think about how therapy gets paid for, here’s the old way: you pay the full session fee, you get a receipt, you log into your insurer’s portal, you upload the receipt, you wait, and eventually some percentage comes back to you. It’s not complicated, exactly. It’s just one more piece of admin — and it lands on people who are, almost by definition, already carrying too much.
With direct billing, the claim goes straight from us to your insurance company. Depending on your plan, you may pay only the difference at the time of your session — or nothing out of pocket at all.
The two-minute version of how coverage works
Registered Psychotherapy is covered under most Extended Health Benefit plans — the workplace benefits you may have through your employer, your partner’s employer, or a private plan. It is not covered by OHIP. That surprises people, and honestly, it should be different — but that’s the current landscape.
What to check in your plan: whether it covers services by a Registered Psychotherapist (RP) — some older plans list only psychologists or social workers; your annual maximum (often somewhere between $500 and several thousand dollars); and whether your plan covers a percentage per session or a flat amount.
If reading insurance documents makes your eyes glaze over — same. Send me a message with your carrier’s name and I’ll tell you what I can see from this end. Not sure if you’re covered? Just ask. That’s not a slogan; it’s genuinely the fastest route.
Deciding to start therapy takes real effort. The admin shouldn’t be the thing that stops you.
That’s the entire reason this matters. Nobody’s nervous system was ever regulated by a reimbursement portal. If the paying-and-claiming part has been one of the quiet reasons you’ve put this off, consider that reason retired.
Sessions are in-person in Newmarket or virtual across Ontario. Book a free consultation at ontariotherapy.janeapp.com — and bring your insurance card, or don’t. We’ll figure it out together.
Naomi Barnes, MA, RP, CRPO #004481