What resources do you recommend for people who are trying to get affordable mental health care without insurance?
I would recommend the following:
- Investigate if you are covered under an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) benefit through your employer (you may be covered even though you don’t have insurance, which is often the case for part-time employees, for example) or a loved one’s employer. EAPs typically cover immediate family members and those living in the household, even if they are not dependents or on the insurance plan. Your loved one can find out if they have an EAP benefit by looking closely at their insurance card or employee benefit webpage/portal or asking Human Resources (HR). EAPs typically provide free and confidential counseling services for mental health, substance use disorders, relationship issues, stress and referrals for legal and financial services, childcare, elder care and more. You may be eligible for 1–12 free counseling sessions (depending on the plan) per issue per year. These can take place in person or virtually. So, if you use 12 sessions in 2024, you will have a new bank of sessions in 2025.
