Does Cerebral Take Insurance?

Cerebral is a telehealth startup that has raised over 450 million dollars of funding and was valued at 4.8 billion dollars in December 2021. With a raging mental health crisis continuing, Cerebral offers a way for consumers to receive quicker access to therapy, mental health professional services, and mental health prescriptions.

What is Cerebral?

Cerebral is a mental health platform positioned to democratize mental health access. Currently, the United States has a mental health crisis coupled with limited access, long wait times, and healthcare coverage limitations. It is estimated that over half of Americans are seeking mental health resources, but many of them face challenges getting the timely care that they need. Cerebral offers remote mental health resources that abide by federal and state regulations and patient privacy to mitigate some of these access issues.

How does Cerebral work?

Start by logging on to Cerebral and creating an account. Cerebral will direct you to take an emotional assessment, which will help determine your current mental health status and the type of assistance you might need. After the assessment, Cerebral will ask you to send a photo of a government ID and a real-time photo, which is required for Cerebral to abide by state and federal telemedicine laws. You’ll choose a subscription plan, and you should be able to receive help from Cerebral within one week after creating an account.

Once you receive access to Cerebral, you’ll be matched with a licensed therapist with a Master's or Doctoral degree. Your monthly subscription can be canceled at any time, so there is no minimum subscription length.

Here are the subscription model options:

• Medications + Therapy. A 45-minute therapy session 4 times per month, plus home medication prescription delivery
• Medications + Care Management. Care management, at the discretion of a mental health provider, plus home medication prescription delivery
• Therapy Only. A 45-minute therapy session 4 times per month

Services offered by Cerebral

Cerebral offers many services through its interface. These services range from paperwork, to therapy, and prescriptions for some mental health medications.

These services include:

• Disability paperwork;
• FMLA paperwork;
• Emotional support animal (ESA) paperwork;
• Diagnosis and treatment of ADHD (note: no stimulant prescriptions, such as Adderall or Ritalin will be prescribed);
• Depression and postpartum depression diagnosis and treatment;
• Anxiety diagnosis and treatment (note: no benzodiazepine prescriptions, such as Xanax will be prescribed);
• Bipolar diagnosis and treatment (in certain states);
• Trauma/PTSD diagnosis and treatment (in certain states);
• Alcohol dependence diagnosis and treatment (in certain states);
• Relationship counseling;
• LGBTQ+ counseling;
• Phobia counseling;
• Grief and loss counseling;
• Self-esteem counseling;
• Stress management;
• Anger management;
• A phone application interface that contains appointing services, mental health exercises, and chat features.

Does Cerebral take insurance?

Yes, Cerebral does take insurance. You’ll need to check with your insurance company to verify that Cerebral is within your insurance network. If Cerebral is in-network (and you have met your deductible), your insurance will pay for their contracted portion of your healthcare services, and you only pay towards your copay and coinsurance, and you're out–of–pocket maximum with your insurance plan. If you have not met your deductible, you will need to pay the full amount negotiated between Cerebral and your insurance - company.

If Cerebral is out-of-network with your insurance, you may still get some limited coverage with your plan. By contacting Cerebral, you will be able to determine how much of the costs with Cerebral will be reimbursed to you.

What insurance does Cerebral take?

Cerebral advertises that they take insurance from Anthem, Superior Healthplan, Magellan Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Humana, and New Directions. Your coverage will depend on the agreement you have with your insurance carrier. Your insurance plan will outline any limitations and exclusions, as well as how much of the cost is your responsibility vs. your plan’s responsibility to pay.

Coverage also varies depending on your state. However, Cerebral is available for all 50 states if you desire to pay out of pocket.

Aetna

Aetna canceled its contract with Cerebral in 2022 due to concerns regarding controlled substance violations. Cerebral denied the allegations but has since halted its prescriptions of certain controlled substances, like Adderall.

Anthem

Anthem considers Cerebral as an in-network mental healthcare provider. Anthem will cover Cerebral services in 5 states.

Cigna

Cigna considers Cerebral as an in-network mental healthcare provider. Cigna will cover Cerebral services in 10 states.

How much does Cerebral cost?

The cost of Cerebral will depend on the following:

• Whether you are using insurance or paying out of pocket;
• What state you live in;
• The terms and conditions of your insurance plan;
• If you have met your deductible or not.

If you have access to HSA/FSA benefits, you may use your activated card to cover your Cerebral expenses, or apply for reimbursement.

With insurance, you can expect to pay $30 per month + your insurance copays, coinsurance, and payment according to your out-of-pocket maximum for all Cerebral plans.

Here is how much each Cerebral plan would cost without insurance:

• Medication + Therapy: $99 per month + separately billed medications if prescribed
• Medication + Care Management: $325 per month + separately billed medications if prescribed + separately billed treatments (if applicable)
• Therapy Only: $259 per month