Perez Therapy is Now In-Network with Independence Blue Cross (IBX)!
- Felix A. Perez, LCSW
- Oct 31, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Nov 30, 2025
By: Felix A. Perez, LCSW, CEO of Perez Therapy, LLC
I founded Perez Therapy with the goal of providing accessible, quality mental health care, no matter a person’s walk of life or health insurance. To that end, Perez Therapy has worked diligently to join the major health insurances of the Greater Philadelphia area. Today, I'm thrilled to share that Perez Therapy has finally joined the Independence Blue Cross (IBX) network! Along with the other commercial and Medicaid networks, with which we are already panelled and accept, we anticipate that by the end of 2026, we will also be joining the Highmark, Cigna Evernorth and Medicare networks.
By joining the Independence Blue Cross network, we better secure stability for all our clients. Healthcare is often tied to a person's employer. A client switching jobs can have an interruption in their mental health care if their new employer does not offer the same health insurance plans as a prior employer. Independence Blue Cross dominates the Philadelphia commercial health insurance market. On the Pennsylvania health insurance exchange (Pennie), Independence Blue Cross dominates the market with serving over 80% of the market. With IBX, Medicaid, and other commercial insurances (Aetna, United, and Quest Behavioral Health), Perez Therapy is now an in-network provider for most major insurances across Philadelphia, greatly reducing the likelihood of interruption of mental health care due to changes in insurance providers. We have also begun credentialing applications with Highmark, another health insurance affiliated with the Blue Cross Blue Shield network. Soon, we also hope to add Cigna/Evernorth and Medicare.
Our therapists offer individual therapy, couples counseling and family therapy. All of our providers work with adults, and some of our providers work with families, teens and children as young as 5 years old. Accepting Independence Blue Cross (IBX) grants us the ability to serve more people and families in Philadelphia, and now across all of Pennsylvania. Presently, all our providers offer telehealth services multiple days a week and in-person appointments at least one day out of the week. Perez Therapy is committed to making in-person therapy an option for people in Philadelphia.
If you're a student or employee at the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel, Temple, or Community College of Philadelphia, Perez Therapy is an in-network option for you. Employees of Penn who receive Penn benefits typically have Quest Behavioral Health, while the students have Aetna. Being an in-network provider with Independence Blue Cross, allows us to serve Drexel and Temple University employees and students. University students sometimes have Medicaid health insurance, which makes Perez Therapy a great option for students. And as students graduate and get jobs, they will be much less likely to have to lose a provider at Perez Therapy due to a change in benefits once they have graduated from school.
You can verify your insurance coverage by emailing us at info@pereztherapyllc.com or by calling our office at 215-278-9444. Our intake team will verify your coverage and benefits. If you're interested in services with us and want to speed up the process, complete a prescreening form, by clickinghere.
For Independence Blue Cross plans and other commercial health insurance plans, clients will have to be aware of deductibles and co-insurance. Be sure to have your health insurance card with you when contacting us, as that will be required to upload when completing the prescreening process. We can provide you with confirmation of your health insurance plan eligibility as well.
I founded Perez Therapy with the vision of making high quality mental care accessible to more people in Philadelphia. Now, with Independence Blue Cross, Perez Therapy can bring compassionate care to more people in Philadelphia and across the state of Pennsylvania. For our clients on Medicaid this is especially important because many Medicaid providers are not also credentialed with commercial health insurances. Perez Therapy stands apart from other group practices in its ability to work with low income individuals while they are on Medicaid and to continue to work with these individuals once they become employed and have insurance through their new employer sponsored commercial health insurance plan.
Medicaid is the ‘Payor of Last Resort’
Medicaid recipients often have services covered 100% by insurance, however, there are stricter rules with using public assistance benefits. Firstly, Medicaid is not the primary payor if the consumer has more than one insurance for the coverage period — this is also called “third party liability”, or TPL. Federal law prohibits the use of Medicaid dollars before the consumer uses active commercial health insurance or Medicare benefits.
So, if a Medicaid consumer also has a secondary insurance plan through a parent, spouse or automatically assigned by a college to an enrolled student, that health insurance plan must be the primary-billed plan, not Medicaid. When this is the case, only in certain special situations will Medicaid cover the claim reimbursement. You should speak directly with our billing department if you find yourself in this situation. Our administrative staff can provide you with guidance about how to proceed and whether your insurance covers our services.
When you become aware that you have a secondary insurance, gather and submit any documentation to us or your health insurance provider if asked. This is especially important if you have proof of secondary insurance being terminated, or Medicaid insurance being activated, as this will ensure that you learn whether your services will be covered by insurance and will minimize the possibility of you having to pay out of pocket for services that you thought were covered by insurance.
Your explanation of benefits (EOB) and Coordination of Benefits (COB)
There is a difference between your Explanation of Benefits (EOB) and your Coordination of Benefits (COB). After you receive a service from a health provider, the claim is processed and an EOB is sent to the consumer informing them how that claim was processed. It should show what the provider billed and what your insurance covered. The EOB shows what portion of the payment you may owe. Please note: an EOB is not a bill — it’s a summary of how your benefits were applied to the services you received.
Your Coordination of Benefits (COB) is required if you have more than one insurance plan. The COB lists which insurance is primary, and which is secondary, for billing purposes. We recommend contacting your health insurance company to keep your COB up-to-date if you have more than one insurance plan.
No-show and late cancellation fees are not covered by health insurances
Be sure to offer your provider the courtesy of 48 hours' notice if you are unable to make it to your session. If not, you could be charged a fee, ranging from $75 to $100, or more, depending on the provider. Please also be considerate that there may be other people who need help and could be seen by one of our providers, if we were given more notice.
Any cancellations due to emergencies are not charged. This includes being sick, a sick child, or school cancellation. This policy doesn’t cover you if you’ve forgotten it’s your anniversary, or your wife’s birthday. We like to give you a heads-up about it, but will need to charge the fee next time. For Medicaid clients, you cannot be charged a no-show or late cancellation fee, however, we can expect that you make an Attendance Agreement with your provider. Attendance Agreements are a last resort to how we manage appointments. We just ask for the courtesy of being notified with 48 hours notice whenever possible.
Patient Financial Responsibility
If your health insurance plan does not cover your services, you, the patient, are ultimately financially responsible. This means, that even if you have health insurance benefits, it does not mean that you will not pay full-price for a service. Remember, deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance requirements generally require that a client pay some or all of the services, until an out-of-pocket maximum is met.
Keep in mind:
Receiving an invoice or statement for insurance reimbursement is not a guarantee of reimbursement from your health insurance plan.
You should be sure you know your health insurances requirements for services.
Pre-licensed therapists can practice under the supervision of a licensed professional at a group practice, like Perez Therapy, but these services may not be qualified for reimbursement in-network or with your health plan.
For Medicaid clients, you cannot be charged for a service that the provider can be reimbursed for. However, if you have a secondary commercial insurance plan, you may have to meet a deductible, and Medicaid will not cover these payments until you exhaust your commercial health insurance benefits. Yes, unfortunately this means that you may not have any coverage for services in a coverage year, if you have a high deductible.
Final Recommendations
Now that you’re familiar with what the pieces are, here are some final thoughts on how to make sure you’re utilizing your health insurance benefits correctly.
Always keep your health insurance member ID card and upload the newest version to your patient portal.
If you have more than one insurance, get a COB from each health insurance plan.
Submit any proof of insurance eligibility to us by uploading it to the client portal.
You can upload your member ID card, COB and any proof of health insurance Perez Therapy’s client portal here: https://pereztherapy.clientsecure.me/
If you have a question about your anything in this blog, email us at info@pereztherapyllc.com or call us Monday through Friday, 215-278-944. Someone from our team will be happy to answer any questions for you.
