Does Blue Cross Cover Therapy?

• Log in to the Alberta Blue Cross member site or app and look for psychological services under your health benefits.
• Check the benefits booklet from your employer.
• Call the member services number on your ID card.

Ask three questions: what is my annual maximum, what percentage of each session is covered, and which designations are eligible? Some plans cover registered psychologists only. Others include provisional psychologists, social workers or counsellors. It is also worth asking whether the plan needs a doctor's referral for psychological services, because a few do.

Often, if your plan covers psychological services and the sessions are with an eligible clinician. Plans rarely have a separate couples category. Sessions are usually claimed under one partner's coverage, and if both partners have benefits, the second plan may pay part of the balance. Check with your plan before you start.

Health spending accounts can often be used for psychological services, and the medical expense tax credit applies to psychologists' fees you pay yourself. Some of our therapists offer sliding scale fees, and reduced-rate counselling is available at each of our clinics for people without coverage.

It is also worth checking whether you have coverage you have forgotten about, such as a spouse's plan, an employee assistance program with a few free sessions, or a health spending account balance that resets each year.