Therapy is within your reach even if you feel you cannot afford help for your mental health. In Virginia, local Community Services Boards (CSBs) are responsible for supporting mental health care within each region. Region Five supports coastal and southeastern Virginia. The mission of Region Five (R5), and all CSBs in the commonwealth, is to work as a team to ensure that high-quality clinical mental health care treatment and support is available and affordable to everyone.
Paying for Mental Health Services
Whether you receive crisis intervention, same-day access to clinician mental health services, or private ongoing counseling or therapy, there are a variety of ways to pay that ensure everyone can afford the care that they need. Our CSBs are required by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health Services and by the Code of Virginia to charge fees for services. Services are billed on a fee-for-service basis, and this is determined when you come in for an assessment.
Affordable payment methods include:
Self-Pay
Cash, check, and most major credit cards are always an option.
Insurance
We are proud that our CSBs can offer you mental health care support using your commercial insurance plans.
Western Tidewater CSB (WTCSB), for example, offers services using the following insurance plans (as do most Virginia CSBs):
- TRICARE/Humana
- Military
- Cigna
- Anthem Commercial
- United Health Care Commercial
- Optima Commercial
- Aetna Commercial
- TRICARE
Please call WTCSB at (757) 758-5106 or your local CSB for more information.
No Insurance/Medicaid
Our CSBs accept most insurance plans, but if you do not have insurance you may qualify for Medicaid.
Virginia Medicaid includes coverage for a wide range of services with a focus on proactive and preventive care for mental illness. Some of the newest behavior care services that are available to Medicaid members include short-term crisis support, short-term intervention services, partial hospitalization during daytime hours, intense outpatient therapy and counseling several times a week, and community-based team supports for adults experiencing serious mental illness.
Health coverage is determined by income eligibility, specifically those considered low income or very low income, and is provided by Medicaid to millions of people who are citizens of the US, or qualifying non-citizens, including children, pregnant women, parents, seniors over the age of 65 years, individuals with disabilities (including those that are blind), and those that have a disabled family member in the household.
Our CSBs are happy to help you apply for Medicaid.
No Insurance/Sliding Scale
If you do not have insurance, all Virginia CSBs offer services on a sliding scale fee. The fee for your treatment will be based on your income and the number of individuals in your family. You will be asked to provide proof of income when services are provided if you have no insurance.
Paying Balances Due/Payment Plans
Payment plans are available based on certain criteria. Contact your CSBs’ financial office or front desk for more information.
Do You Need Mental Health Treatment?
The signs that indicate the need for mental health care are different for everyone.
Some common symptoms that can indicate mental distress are:
- Excessive worry or fear
- Feeling excessively sad for at least two weeks
- Feeling tired a lot of the time, or having trouble sleeping
- Abusing substances like drugs or alcohol
- Avoiding friends and social activities
Our blog post, Signs that You Might Need Mental Health First Aid, lists a dozen additional common symptoms. Please familiarize yourself with these symptoms, and how they might impact your life. Do you know if you are experiencing a mental health crisis? If you are not sure, we have provided some questions to ask yourself.
Our most important goal is to help our community members get the mental health care that they need. Reach out to your nearest CSB, or one in Region Five, for help today. All Virginia CSBs accept a wide range of payment methods and can work with families who may need financial assistance.
To get help for a mental health crisis right now, call or text 988, or, if you’re in the Region 5 area of Virginia, call 757-656-7755 to get to someone faster.
Nobody is turned away.