HealthSelect mental health care: choosing the right appointment route

Copy the exact plan name before searching

HealthSelect's mental health page provides different provider-search links for HealthSelect of Texas and Consumer Directed HealthSelect, Out-of-State coverage, and Secondary coverage. Start with the plan named on your current member information rather than a general Blue Cross Blue Shield search.

Write down the plan name, the appointment you are looking for and whether it would be online or in person. Keep member identifiers in your own secure records. When asking a practice about participation, name the clinician as well as the practice; a carrier logo on a website does not settle your individual network question.

Sources: HealthSelect: Mental Health

Ask the benefits coordinator about the EAP

HealthSelect directs EAP questions to the employee's agency or institution benefits coordinator. Ask that office for the current EAP provider and access instructions. Then ask the EAP what service it can offer, who is eligible and what happens if you need a different service or continuing appointments.

Keep the EAP answer separate from the medical plan answer. For example, a referral from an EAP counselor is useful, but you still need to establish how the receiving practice would bill the appointment. Record which organization gave each answer so you know whom to contact if something changes.

Sources: HealthSelect: Mental Health

Distinguish designated Virtual Visits from other video appointments

HealthSelect's Virtual Visits page names Doctor On Demand and MDLIVE. It describes advance scheduling for mental health visits and gives different cost rules for Consumer Directed HealthSelect and the other listed products. Read the current details for your product through that page.

The same source separately explains telemedicine through a network provider's own platform. Those appointments use the plan's office-visit benefits. Do not transfer a designated vendor's advertised cost to a different practice simply because both appointments use video. If considering Lyte, ask the plan and Lyte about the exact clinician and visit; this guide does not establish participation or a price.

Sources: HealthSelect: Virtual Visits

Finish with a route and an unresolved-question list

A practical comparison can fit on one page: route, contact, service requested, expected cost, appointment date and questions still unanswered. If you have two possible appointments, compare the service each actually offers before choosing one. Do not cancel an existing appointment solely because you found a name in a directory.

HealthSelect identifies Personal Health Assistants as a contact for benefits, network searches and claims questions. Take the specific uncertainty to that team: which product applies, which search to use or which benefit describes the planned visit. Ask the receiving practice separately whether an appointment is available.

Sources: HealthSelect: Mental Health; HealthSelect: Virtual Visits

Common questions