How to Start Therapy with Medicaid in Illinois (Blue Cross Community, Meridian, Molina) | Merak Health Medicaid Therapists

Starting therapy can feel overwhelming — especially when you're using Medicaid. At Merak Health, we believe mental health care should be affordable, simple, and accessible. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you start therapy in Illinois using your Medicaid plan.

Determine Which Medicaid Plan You're On

All Illinois Medicaid recipients are enrolled in one of the following Medicaid plans:

• Blue Cross Community Health Plans

• Meridian Health Plan

• Molina Healthcare of Illinois

• Aetna Better Health of Illinois

• County Care Health Plan

• Medicaid (directly through the State of Illinois)

Look at your Medicaid card or visit the Application for Benefits Eligibility website to confirm your plan. Once you know which Medicaid plan you're on, you'll need to verify your benefits and then find a therapist who accepts your plan.

Verify Your Benefits

Call your insurance plan (their phone number should be on the back of your card) and speak with "member services." Ask the representative if your benefits cover "behavioral health services" (that's the term you need to use with insurance when you're referring to therapy).

Your Medicaid plan should cover therapy, so your sessions should be free. After you've verified your benefits, it's time to find a therapist who accepts your Medicaid plan.

Find a Therapist Who Accepts Your Plan

Not all therapy practices and therapists accept Medicaid — many do not. And not all therapy practices and therapists that do accept Medicaid will accept your specific Medicaid plan. You need to find a therapist who will accept your specific plan. There are a few easy ways to do that:

1. Call your insurance plan and ask for a "list of in-network therapists who are currently accepting new patients" — your insurance plan might refer to therapists as "behavioral health providers." These lists are not always up-to-date, so after you obtain this list, you'll want to reach out to those therapists and confirm with them that they accept your plan.

2. Search for a therapist in the provider directory. You can access the provider directory by visiting the member's section of your insurance plan's website. Again, here you'll also want to reach out to the therapists you've selected and confirm with them that they accept your plan.

3. You can work with a Merak Health Medicaid Therapist. Meet our therapists.

We accept the following Medicaid plans:

• Blue Cross Community

• Meridian

• Molina

Our therapists support adults and teens dealing with:

• Anxiety and depression

• Trauma and PTSD

• Relationship, marital, or couples issues

Work With Us

If you work with us, it's easy. We'll take care of the following for you:

• Verify your benefits and coverage

• Match you with the right therapist — or you can specify your preference

• Help schedule your first telehealth session — or you can schedule a telehealth appointment now yourself directly through our website

It could take as little as a few minutes to get set up.

What You'll Need to Get Started With Us

• Your legal first and last name

• Your address on file with your insurance plan

• Member ID number (on the front of your card)

• Date of birth

• Email address

• Mobile phone number (for appointment reminders and correspondence)

You can send us this information in a few ways:

• Email us at info@merakhealth.us

• Call us at 402-326-7456

• Create a profile on our website, then log in and you'll be able to put in all of this information yourself, as well as sign consent forms, etc.

Ready to Start Therapy?

Merak Health offers trauma-informed, compassionate care for adults and teens across Illinois. Call or text us at 402-326-7456 if you have any questions. If you know for sure that you want to proceed, you can create a profile and schedule an appointment directly off of our website.

We're here to make mental health care easier to access, and we hope to work with you soon.