Navigate Your Insurance If You have a Plan Through Kaiser Permanente
How-To Guide: Connecting with mental health services through Kaiser Permanente insurance.
Call Member Services
If you would like to know how much visits will cost, call Kaiser Member Services (the number should be on the back of your Kaiser card) to ask for your mental health benefits information.
- You can use the “How-To Guide: Calling to clarify your insurance coverage for mental health services” for guidance around what specific questions you can ask to determine insurance coverage and visit costs.
Call Kaiser Psychiatry Department
To connect with a therapist, psychiatrist, group/class, or other mental health services, call a Kaiser Psychiatry Department. The Kaiser Psychiatry Departments nearest to Stanford are in Redwood City (650.299.4777) and Mountain View (408.366.4400). Kaiser will have a mental health clinician call you back for a brief phone assessment, and the clinician may then offer or recommend services to best address your concerns.
Request a Referral (if desired)
If the visit frequency or location of Kaiser therapists do not fit your needs, you can inquire during your phone assessment about options for a referral for therapy. This may allow you to meet with a provider who has availability for more frequent visits or an office closer to campus. Kaiser contracts with Magellan and Beacon. These groups have therapists in the community who can provide therapy services through your Kaiser benefits so long as you first obtain a referral from Kaiser. These contracted services are available only for therapy, not medication management with a psychiatrist. Sometimes Kaiser will provide a referral immediately at the time of your phone assessment, and sometimes they may request you come into their office first for further evaluation before determining what resources would be appropriate.
- If you receive a referral for therapy, you may need to call Magellan or Beacon (Kaiser can provide you with their contact information) to follow up. You may be able to request an “appointment search” in which you tell Magellan or Beacon your preferences for a therapist (eg. “I’d like to find a female therapist offering in-person visits in Palo Alto or Menlo Park who has availability on Tuesday or Thursday evenings after 5pm and has experience helping clients with panic attacks). Magellan or Beacon can contact therapists in the community looking for someone who fits as many criteria as possible, then share information with you regarding who has availability.
For additional information about connecting with mental health services off campus, visit this webpage.