Question 1

Does "lists Medicare" mean my sessions will be paid for?

Accepted Answer

No. It means the therapist named Medicare on their own Psychology.com profile, which is a claim about who they bill, not a check we have run and not a statement about your own coverage. Whether a particular session is paid for depends on the therapist's current network status and on your Medicare coverage, including your deductible, your copay and any limit on outpatient mental health visits. Treat this page as a shortlist to call, not an answer about your benefits.

Question 2

How do I check whether a therapist is enrolled in Medicare?

Accepted Answer

Ask both sides the same question and compare the answers. Ask the therapist, by message or on a first call, whether they are currently enrolled as a Medicare provider and whether they bill Medicare directly. Then call the member number on your card, give them the therapist's full name and NPI number, and ask what you would owe per session. The two answers disagree often enough that asking only one is how people end up with a bill they did not expect. Enrollment also lapses and gets renewed, so a name on any list can be out of date.

Question 3

What if none of the therapists on this page has an opening?

Accepted Answer

You have three workable routes. Ask to be put on a waitlist and give your real availability, because evening and early morning slots move fastest. Widen the search to every therapist licensed in California who works online, which is a much larger pool than any one payer's list. Or work the other direction and use Medicare's own provider lookup for California, then call the names on it, because that list and ours are built from different sources and neither one is complete.

Question 4

What do out-of-network reimbursement and a superbill mean?

Accepted Answer

A superbill is an itemized receipt from your therapist showing the dates, the service codes and what you paid. You send it to your insurer yourself, and if your plan has out-of-network benefits the insurer pays you back a share of the fee once your out-of-network deductible is met. It is worth asking about when the therapist you want is not in network, because plenty of therapists will issue a superbill even when they do not bill insurers themselves. Ask your plan two things first, whether it has out-of-network benefits at all and what it considers a reasonable fee for a 50-minute session, because the reimbursement is a percentage of that figure rather than of what you actually paid. Original Medicare works differently: it has no out-of-network benefit of this kind, so ask the therapist directly what they charge a private-pay client.

Question 5

What does a session cost among these therapists?

Accepted Answer

2 of the 3 therapists on this page list a fee. Their listed fees run $110 to $250 per session, with a median starting fee of $110. That is the range these therapists published on their own profiles, not a market rate for California and not what you would owe after your Medicare coverage is applied. 1 also offers a sliding scale, which is marked on the card.

Question 6

Is it harder to find a therapist who takes Medicare?

Accepted Answer

Often yes, and it is worth knowing why before you start calling. Medicare reimburses outpatient therapy at rates below most commercial plans, and Medicare only began paying licensed counselors and marriage and family therapists directly in 2024, so many practices are still enrolling. Start with the 3 therapists here, ask each one whether they are currently enrolled rather than whether they accept Medicare, and keep the question specific to California.

Medicare Therapists in California

3 therapists in California who list Medicare

Jeanne Prinzivalli

Dr. Anthony Fiore

Dr. Bayo Owens

Other insurers listed by therapists in California

Therapists who list Medicare in other states

How members are checked

NPI Registry match

State board lookup

Dated, with the link

Frequently asked questions