Most people find out what therapy will cost them after the first session. It does not have to work that way. One phone call, ten minutes, gets you a number you can plan around. Your insurance card has a member services number on the back. Call it, say you want to ask about outpatient mental health benefits, and work through the list below. Have your member ID in front of you. Write down the representative's name and the reference number for the call. Ask for both. If you are

"Out of network" sounds like "not covered." For most people with a PPO plan, it is not the same thing. It means your plan has no contract with that provider — so you pay the provider directly and your plan pays you back a share of it afterward. Whether that share is worth having comes down to four numbers. The four numbers Your out-of-network deductible. What you pay yourself before the plan contributes anything. It is separate from, and usually higher than, your in-network d