behaviorl health billing

do you know which insurance companies need pre-authorization for out patient behavioral services?

My method

is to first- read the back of the card then if that fails- second- go online to the provider listing and look under psychiatry and see if there are listings for the doctors and any notation about pre-cert.

You will never get a definitive list- Aetna has 20 plans, Blue Cross 200 plans, etc and each plan has their own rules.

If you are a psych office, I would think the effort to call the insurer before starting services would be well worth your time and effort.