Best Online Therapy that Takes Insurance: Top Virtual Therapy Services Reviewed 2022 [Miami Herald]

We may earn a commission if you make a purchase through one of our links. The newsroom and editorial staff were not involved in the creation of this content.

Going to traditional therapy sessions can be a daunting task, especially if it’s your first time. Even if you’ve been to therapy sessions before, you’ve probably wished that, at some point, there’s a much easier or more convenient way to speak to your therapist.

Aside from that, an in-person therapy session can be expensive, and usually, the consultation only extends within the office of the therapist.

The good thing is that you can do online therapy from home or even wherever you are in the world. Typically, online therapy is also cheaper compared to in-person therapy or sessions.

It’s not just your traditional therapy session, because their care extends even outside your session through messaging.

There are now also many online mental health counseling services that accept insurance and can match you with a licensed healthcare professional or web therapist or psychiatrist for your needs.

For example, our top pick, Talkspace, accepts all types of insurance, and even allows you to switch therapists at no cost!

Whether you prefer telehealth services, video sessions, or unlimited messaging therapy, there’s an online therapist site or app that fits your needs.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the online therapy services that accept insurance so you won’t have to spend much on your mental health needs. Find out which are the best therapy apps and sites out there before you take a step in ensuring your mental health wellness.

Let’s get started!

Best Online Therapy Covered By Insurance:

This is a list of recommendations and in no way a guide to self-diagnose. To seek a licensed professional for mental health issues, please contact your doctor.

1. Talkspace - Best Online Therapy With Insurance Overall

Talkspace Pros:

Talkspace Cons:

Talkspace is an online and mobile therapy company that was founded in 2012 and is based in New York City. This is an online therapy platform where you can match with a mental health professional for individual, couple, or teen therapy.

Psychiatric medication management is also offered here. So, does Talkspace take insurance? Yes, it does.

This is one of the best online therapy providers that is covered by many health insurance companies, including Cigna, Optum, and Resources for Living. They have also partnered up with different employers like Blueprint, CBIZ, and Blue Sprig.

Talkspace’s licensed therapists can help people who specialize in the following mental health conditions:

Depression, relationships, stress and anxiety, parenting, LGBTQIA+, chronic illnesses, eating disorders, OCD, eating disorders, anger management, childhood abuse, mood disorders, OCD, trauma and grief, substance abuse, family conflict, and more.

It only takes under 10 minutes to sign up at Talkspace. This is necessary even if you only have general inquiries. You can only speak to an online consultant who would answer your concerns if you already have a Talkspace account.

Once you’re matched with a therapist online, you can choose to subscribe to consultation plans through video sessions, messaging, and phone calls. A therapy online session can last up to 45 minutes, and each plan would have at least four live consults included.

You may chat with the consultant on the official site of Talkspace or download the app from Google PlayStore or the Apple App Store. Talkspace is an excellent choice if you need an online therapist that takes insurance and you can text and/or call.

Talkspace Consultation Rates:

The cheapest Talkspace online therapy costs $69 a week or a total of $276 a month. This includes daily responses via text with video and audio messaging five days a week.

You can also subscribe to only live therapy for $396 a month, which includes four live sessions. You also have the option to combine both live and messaging therapy for $516 a month. This plan includes four live sessions and text, video, and audio messaging five days a week.

While these rates are high, Talkspace usually has promos going on. For example, they would sometimes have coupon codes that you can use to get a discount or discounted plan prices.

>> Switch Therapists At No Cost With Talkspace

2. BetterHelp - Over 15,000 Licensed Professionals Who Can Help

BetterHelp Pros:

BetterHelp Cons:

Founded in 2013, BetterHelp is now one of the biggest and most trusted online therapy services today. The company is based in Mountain View, California, but anyone in the United States and even outside the United States can use this service.

Health insurances don’t really have coverage for BetterHelp consultations, especially if you have providers like Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Medicare, or Medicaid. However, they are health insurers that can reimburse your BetterHelp expenses.

Generally, these insurers only cover online therapy expenses partially or only with a limited amount. This will depend on your insurance coverage or plan, so be sure to check with your provider.

Reimbursement is also not guaranteed because, in many cases, the health insurance company will require a mental health diagnosis before they issue a reimbursed amount. If this is what your insurer requires, then you can simply request it from the therapist who made the diagnosis.

It’s not really such a bad thing that BetterHelp expenses aren’t fully covered by any health insurance. BetterHelp has financial aid or assistance that you might be qualified for.

You can check if you can get a huge discount on your consults before you key in your payment details after signing up at the site. Speaking of signing up at BetterHelp, it only takes less than 10 minutes to complete a series of questionnaires that could help match you with a therapist.

What’s great about the site’s matching system is how specific it could be. You can request a specific virtual therapist based on your preferences like age, gender, specialties, and even spirituality. Here are the main specialties of the virtual therapists available at BetterHelp: stress, anxiety, grief, anger, personality disorders, relationships, mental health, self-esteem, eating disorders, depression, and more.

Once matched, you can contact your therapist through chatting, calling, messaging, and video chatting. There will be instances, however, that you need to set an appointment to check for your therapist’s availability. BetterHelp also has a mobile app you can download, making it more convenient.

BetterHelp Consultation Rates:

There is no fixed price for consultations booked via BetterHelp, but the cost of online therapy can range from $240 to $360 a month. This depends on what online mental health services you need and the specialties of the therapist you matched with.

>> Receive Financial Aid With BetterHelp

3. Online-therapy.com - Great for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Online-therapy.com Pros:

Online-therapy.com Cons:

Online-therapy.com is not just your typical online therapy service. Aside from being a platform that connects you to licensed clinical social workers and therapists, you get to sign up for a program that is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT.

This website has other functions like online worksheets, daily journals, and activity plans. You’ll also find helpful videos for yoga and meditation.

Technically, Online-Therapy.com doesn’t accept health insurance, but you can request for reimbursement or direct payment for their mental health services.

What they can do to help you with the request is to provide you with itemized receipts that you can send to the insurance company. Note that the reimbursement you’ll get will depend on your health insurance coverage.

This website will match you with a therapist based on your needs. When you sign-up, there’s no need to answer a long questionnaire. Instead, you only need to specify what you’re looking for in a therapist. Once matched, you then get to choose from the different plans available.

Overall, it only takes about 5 minutes to match with a therapist. After your first consultation, you can also easily get transferred to a new therapist if you feel like you need a new one. You can browse through the therapist profiles on the site to see if you want someone in particular.

On their profiles, you can see what their specialties are and how you can contact them. Mostly, you may do so via live chat, text messaging, phone call, and video call. Unfortunately, online-therapy.com has no mobile app, but the site is optimized for mobile usage, so it’s all good!

Online-therapy.com Consultation Rates:

There are three main programs that you can subscribe to. Here are the following:

Note that if it’s your first time subscribing to one of their programs, you are eligible to get a 20% discount.

>> 24-Hour Customer Support With Online-Therapy.com

4. Doctor on Demand - Access to All Health Specialists 24/7

Doctor on Demand Pros:

Doctor on Demand Cons:

Doctor on Demand is a 24/7 telemedicine service where you can get matched with any mental health care providers, including licensed psychiatrists and therapists. Aside from mental health care, you can also find doctors and clinicians here who can help with your other health concerns.

What’s great about this app is that you can also get preventive health services to ensure your overall wellness. Medication management is also included, which means a psychiatrist can write you up a prescription if deemed necessary.

You’ll need to create an account, and this only takes less than 5 minutes. Then, you can either be on your PC or mobile device if you want to schedule an appointment with mental health professionals or if you need urgent healthcare from any doctors.

There will still be questionnaires that you might have to answer, but only when the healthcare provider requests it. The Doctor on Demand site is very easy to navigate and lets you see the essential details you need, like your past and upcoming visits, and nearby pharmacies.

This site works with many health plans and employers, including Medicare, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare.

Doctor on Demand Consultation Rate:

Unlike many online therapy services, Doctor on Demand doesn’t have a subscription rate. Instead, the health professionals here would charge per consultation. Here are the rates for the services you can get:

Psychologist Service:

Psychiatry:

For other medical concerns, the rate of board-certified clinicians is $75 for a 15 min consultation.

More Great Options to Get Virtual Therapy that Takes Insurance

5. Faithfulcounseling - Christian Mental Health Therapy

Faithful Counseling Pros:

Faithful Counseling Cons:

Faithfulcounseling has a lot of similarities with BetterHelp as it is owned by the same people behind BetterHelp. This is a platform with online counseling that accepts insurance is different because it focuses on both mental and spiritual wellness.

This is where you’ll find therapists who are spiritually informed. You can cite your preference while you answer the questionnaires when you sign up for online counseling with insurance. For example, you may choose a therapist who can include prayers during a session or share bible verses.

You can also choose someone who can take a holistic approach and find the balance between medical and spiritual concerns. It’s ideal for people who also want to address religion or spiritual matters during an online session.

Like BetterHelp, Faithfulcounseling therapists do not submit claims to health insurance providers like Medicare, Cross Blue Shield, and Medicaid.

Generally, the services offered on this platform aren’t covered by these insurance companies, but you can check if your plan includes reimbursement. `

Typically, you can only request reimbursement with a diagnosed mental disorder or feature. This is something you can ask your therapist about and send to your insurance provider.

You can get online therapy from Faithcounseling through text messages, live chat, over the phone, and video calls. In addition, there is a mobile app that you can download from either Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

Faithful Counseling Consultation Rates:

Like BetterHelp, Faithcounseling charges $80 a week or $320 per month. If this rate is still too high for you, you can apply for financial aid which can give you a huge discount.

6. Teencounseling - Online Therapy for 13 to 18-Year-Olds

Teencounseling Pros:

Teencounseling Cons:

Another BetterHelp platform is Teencounseling which is specifically for teenagers who are 13 to 18 years old. Parents can also set up an appointment with their child, and there are over 13,000 licensed therapists that you can work with.

Like BetterHelp, this is only an option to consider if you’re alright with only getting reimbursed by your health insurance provider.

The online therapy platform partners do not submit claims to insurance providers and can only issue a diagnosis to help you submit a claim for reimbursement.

When you’re already matched with a therapist, you can contact them via text messaging, video calling, and live chatting.

Therapists can also send you digital worksheets on the platform. If you feel like it’s not a match with your current therapist, you can easily switch to a different one at no extra cost.

Teen counseling Consultation Rates:

Since Teencounseling is also under BetterHelp, the subscription rates here are the same. The platform charges $80 a week or $320 a month. However, you can get a discount on your first month of subscription.

7. Regain.us - Good for Couples

Regain.us Pros:

Regain.us Cons:

Regain.us is an online relationship therapy platform. It is best for people who are dealing with relationship or marital issues. Individual and couples therapy are offered here, which means you have the option to include or not include your partner in the sessions.

The platform itself doesn’t submit claims to insurance providers, but you can check with your insurance if they can reimburse your Regain expenses.

However, know that a diagnosis is usually required for reimbursement to get approved. The good thing is that the therapist rates at Regain are not too bad.

If you want to go for couples therapy or be in the same session together, you have to be in the same room because Regain doesn’t support a 3-way remote live session. This can be a struggle if you don’t live with your partner.

Still, this is a great online therapy app and website where people can address relationship issues like the following:

Regain.us Consultation Rates:

The cost of online therapy at Regain depends on the therapist that you match with. The platform has no subscription rates, but the cost of therapy here ranges from $60 to $90 a week or per session.

8. Pridecounseling - Online Therapy for Individuals in the LGBTQ Community

Pride Counseling Pros:

Pride Counseling Cons:

Pride Counseling is also part of BetterHelp, but this is the exclusive platform for the LGBTQ community. The therapists you can work with here are all well-versed in LGBTQ-related issues, and you can choose to be matched with a therapist in the community as well.

Like BetterHelp and other BetterHelp platforms, Pride Counseling therapists do not submit claims to insurance providers. You can do this yourself, but only if there is a diagnosis issued by the therapist.

This is an excellent choice for people who are dealing with mental health and identity issues. Therapists available on this site and app are experts in the following:

Pride Counseling Consultation Rates:

Pride Counseling offers professional therapy for only $80 a week or $320 for one month. If this is something you can’t afford, you can check if you’re eligible for financial aid, which can significantly lower the consultation price.

9. Calmerry - Cheaper Subscription Rates

Calmerry Pros:

Calmerry Cons:

Calmerry is a great platform where you can match with licensed and verified therapists who specialize in different mental health issues. The app also has a daily reflection tool that you can use for your daily wellness.

This platform doesn’t submit claims to insurance providers, but at your request, you can be given a receipt that you can send to your insurance company if you want to request reimbursement for your Calmerry consultations.

The application process can be a bit longer because you can be very specific about the therapist you’d like to work with. Once matched with a provider, you can choose to avail any of the three subscription packages Calmerry offers.

You can talk to your therapist via messaging and video calling. In addition, any subscription includes a personalized therapy plan, free counselor switching, and free reflection tools. Calmerry also has an app that you can download with an Android or iOS device.

Calmerry Consultation Rates:

Calmerry monthly plans have some of the most affordable rates we’ve seen. Here are your online therapy options once you’re already matched with a therapist:

Calmerry would offer you a discount on your first month. There are also times that they have coupons or codes that you can use on your monthly subscription.

How We Chose the Best Online Therapy with Insurance

We checked these best therapy online companies ourselves to make sure that we only list down the best providers of online mental health support. Here are the factors we considered when choosing our top picks:

Credibility:

It’s important that these platforms only allow licensed mental health professionals. It’s also better if they screen and verify these mental health specialists. Good thing that the ones listed here guarantee that they work with licensed and verified therapists and psychiatrists.

Accessibility and Contact Channels:

The best therapy online consultations should be easy to access. Of course, it helps if you can speak to a therapist or psychiatrist in the most convenient way possible. While text messaging can be ideal sometimes, it’s still best that these platforms also allow live sessions via video call.

Availability:

Generally, you will need to set up an appointment with a therapist or psychiatrist. Unfortunately, it’s rare that you’ll see online therapy platforms that accept patients 24/7. If they do, they most likely only address urgent physical health concerns.

When it comes to this, availability is measured by the responsiveness of the provider and how easy it is to book an appointment. We also considered how easy it is to change to a new therapist, and Talkspace is one of the platforms good for this.

Services Offered:

The best therapy online sites and apps we chose cater to people with different help needs. They also have therapists who are well-versed in multiple mental health concerns and issues. After all, people don’t just need someone who can help manage their symptoms.

It’s a plus that these platforms offer preventive care and useful tools that can help a person with their journey to physical, mental, and even spiritual wellness. Doctor on Demand offers more than that, too, as you can also match with doctors and clinicians on this therapist site.

Consultation Rates:

Even if these are platforms that accept insurance or can help you with your insurance claim, we still looked at their consultation and subscription rates.

Most online therapy companies we listed here either offer lower rates compared to face-to-face sessions or charge the same rates.

Online Therapy Covered by Insurance - FAQs

How much does online therapy usually cost?

You can get a free online therapy service with the help of your insurance. However, there are instances when the insurance can only reimburse your bill. This might mean that you’ll have to pay from around $150 to $450 a month for online consultations.

Do most insurance companies cover virtual therapy?

Yes. Many insurance providers now cover online therapy, but some can only reimburse partial or a little amount of your consultation cost.

A virtual therapy covered by insurance is not uncommon anymore, but be sure to check with your provider first or check if an online therapist app or site accepts your insurance.

Is online therapy better than face-to-face therapy?

It could be as this will depend on your preference. Usually, people prefer live video sessions if they want to go with the best therapy online. On the other hand, text messaging can sometimes be convenient, especially for people who can express themselves better through writing.

Generally, online therapy is a more convenient option because you no longer have to drive to your therapist or wait in the lobby for your appointment. In addition, unlike face-to-face therapy sessions, online therapy sessions may include unlimited text messaging, which can be very handy.

What are the most affordable online counseling services?

Calmerry has some of the most affordable subscriptions on this list, with $227.96 a month as its lowest rate. BetterHelp is also great for people who can’t afford their regular rates because you can apply for financial aid, which puts a huge discount on your bill.

Do online therapy services have licensed therapists and psychiatry services?

Yes, of course! Online therapy services like Talkspace works with licensed and verified therapists. There are also platforms like Online-therapy.com that have pages where you can see the profiles of all the therapists you can work with.

When it comes to psychiatry services, only certain platforms offer them, including Talkspace. These are sites where you can obtain a prescription for medication.

Can I get a medical prescription from online therapy?

Yes. You can get a medical prescription from a licensed psychiatrist. There are, however, sites that do not have medication management services. This means that their online therapists can only refer you to a psychiatrist who can recommend or order medication.

Final Thoughts on Online Counseling that Takes Insurance

The best therapy online is simply a great choice if you want a convenient way to speak to licensed therapists and psychiatrists. We hope that our comprehensive review helped you identify some of the best virtual counseling or online therapy companies today.

Nowadays, you can choose from many therapy apps that take insurance, but it’s always a good idea to only work with the ones that have already established an excellent reputation. This is mental health that we’re talking about, and it’s definitely something that should be never taken lightly.

Talkspace is one of the best online counseling services that take insurance, where you can also get psychiatric services and other mental health-specific treatments.

While these online therapy services can easily let you schedule an appointment with any licensed mental health professional in the US, the majority of them can’t help with any urgent crisis.

If you’re someone who needs help or someone to talk to right away, you can call the National Suicide Prevention lifeline at 800-273-8255.

Disclaimer: This article does not provide medical advice.

The information, including but not limited to text, graphics, images, and other material contained in this article, are for informational purposes only. No material within this article is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Always speak to your physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen, and never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something you read in this article.