No Surprises Act & Good Faith Estimate
You have the right to receive a "Good Faith Estimate" explaining how much your medical care will cost.
Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don't have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.
What this means for you
- You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services.
- Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask for one before you schedule.
- If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.
- Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.
Why this applies to almost everyone at FirstLight
FirstLight is a private-pay practice. We do not bill insurance directly, which means essentially every patient here is a "self-pay" patient for the purposes of this law. So this isn't a technicality for us — it applies to your care by default, and we intend to treat it as a feature rather than a compliance box.
How we handle it
- Our fees are published. Every visit type and assessment package is listed on our fees page. You don't have to call to find out what something costs.
- You get a written estimate before you start. After your free consultation, and before your first appointment, we provide a written Good Faith Estimate covering the expected course of care.
- We update it if things change. If the plan changes materially — for example, if an assessment turns out to need more sessions than anticipated — we issue a revised estimate rather than surprising you at the end.
- The ADHD evaluation fee is all-inclusive. It covers every appointment, the rating scales, the written report and the results visit — so the number you see is the number you pay.
What an estimate can and can't include
A Good Faith Estimate covers the services we expect to provide. It cannot include costs from other providers you may be referred to — a therapist, a laboratory, a pharmacy, or a psychologist doing separate testing. Those providers issue their own estimates.
It's an estimate, not a contract. The actual number of visits you need depends on how you respond to treatment.
Your right to dispute a bill
If you are billed at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you may start a patient-provider dispute resolution process with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. You must start it within 120 calendar days of the date on the bill.
There is an administrative fee to use the process, set by the Department of Health and Human Services and published on their website. If the reviewer agrees with you, you will pay the price on the Good Faith Estimate. If the reviewer disagrees, you will pay the higher amount.
Starting a dispute will not affect the quality of your care here, and we will not retaliate in any way.
How to request an estimate
Ask us. There's no form and no obligation, and you don't need to be a patient.
hello@firstlightmentalhealth.com
More information
For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit cms.gov/nosurprises or call 1-800-985-3059.