New York City · North Jersey

Behavioral Health Billing
in NYC & North Jersey

S2S Medical Billing Co. handles billing and credentialing for therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, and psychiatric nurse practitioners across New York City's five boroughs and North Jersey. For new practices, that starts with credentialing and getting in-network; for established practices, it means clean claims, authorizations, and A/R follow-up, handled by one person instead of a call center.

ManhattanBrooklynQueensThe BronxStaten IslandNorth Jersey
Who This Is For

Therapists, Psychologists & Psychiatric Prescribers

Solo clinicians, group practices, and psychiatric practices in all five boroughs and across North Jersey, including Hudson, Bergen, Essex, Passaic, Union, and Morris counties.

S2S is based in Bayonne, a short trip from Manhattan and Staten Island. Most work happens remotely through your EHR and payer portals, and Jennifer can meet in person with practices in Hudson County.

  • ✦New York: LMHCs, LCSWs, LMFTs, LCATs, and psychoanalysts (LPs)
  • ✦New Jersey: LPCs, LCSWs, and LMFTs
  • ✦Psychologists, including testing and group practices
  • ✦Psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners (PMHNPs)
  • ✦New practices getting credentialed and in-network for the first time
Bright, modern office interior

Getting In-Network

Credentialing for New Practices: The Order That Works

Getting in-network is the step most new practices underestimate. Here's how S2S runs it, in order.

1. NPI & CAQH first

You need an individual NPI (and a group NPI if you bill as a group), plus a complete, attested CAQH profile. Most commercial applications pull from CAQH, so gaps there stall everything downstream.

2. Choose payers, then check panels

Some panels in New York City and North Jersey are closed or slow to open for certain license types. Before applying, I check whether each plan is accepting new providers in your area, so you don't wait months on a closed panel.

3. Know who manages the network

Many commercial plans manage behavioral health through a separate behavioral health company, so you may credential with that company rather than the medical plan. Applying to the wrong entity costs weeks.

4. Medicare & Medicaid

Since January 2024, Medicare enrolls licensed mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists, opening a payer many therapists couldn't bill before. Medicaid enrollment and each Medicaid managed care plan's credentialing are separate steps in both New York and New Jersey.

5. Contract & effective date

Don't bill as in-network until the contract is signed and the effective date is confirmed. I review the contract, record the effective date, and set up EDI, ERA, and EFT so claims and payments flow from day one.

6. Keep it current

CAQH re-attestation, recredentialing cycles, and license renewals are tracked for you. A lapse can mean denied claims or being dropped from a network.

Billing for Established Practices

Clean Claims for Therapy & Psychiatry

Psychotherapy time thresholds

Psychotherapy codes are time-based: 90832 for 16–37 minutes, 90834 for 38–52 minutes, and 90837 for 53 minutes or more. Documentation has to support the time billed, and some payers watch 90837 closely.

Psychiatry & add-on codes

Psychiatric visits often pair an E/M code with a psychotherapy add-on (90833, 90836, 90838), billed only when the psychotherapy time is separate from the E/M work. Interactive complexity (90785) is billed only when its criteria are met.

Telehealth & out-of-network

Telehealth place-of-service codes and modifiers differ by payer. If you see self-pay clients, the federal No Surprises Act requires a Good Faith Estimate, and out-of-network practices need clean superbills clients can submit.

Questions

NYC & North Jersey Behavioral Health Billing FAQ

How do therapists in New York City get in-network with insurance?

Therapists get in-network by obtaining an NPI, completing and attesting a CAQH profile, applying to each plan or its behavioral health network, and waiting for a signed contract with an effective date before billing as in-network.

S2S checks which panels are open in your area first, then prepares the applications and follows up until the contracts are in place.

How long does credentialing take in New York or New Jersey?

Credentialing with most commercial payers commonly takes 60–120 days, and Medicaid and Medicare enrollment run on their own timelines.

Payers control the pace, so starting early with a complete application is the best way to avoid gaps. S2S charges $250 per insurance, per provider.

Can licensed mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists bill Medicare?

Yes. Since January 1, 2024, Medicare enrolls marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors, including LMHCs in New York and LPCs in New Jersey.

Enrollment is separate from commercial credentialing, and S2S can handle both.

Do you work with psychiatric nurse practitioners?

Yes. S2S bills for psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners and psychiatrists, including medication management visits with psychotherapy add-on codes.

Credentialing for prescribers who are new to a practice is handled too.

Do you work with practices in all five boroughs and North Jersey?

Yes. S2S works with behavioral health practices in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island and across North Jersey, mostly remotely.

For practices in Hudson County, Jennifer can also meet in person.

What does it cost?

Ongoing billing is a flat monthly retainer plus a per-claim fee, never a percentage of collections; credentialing is $250 per insurance, per provider.

See the pricing page for every published rate.

Keep Reading

Related Pages

Opening a Practice or
Tired of Chasing Claims?

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