Insurance: Client Insurance in the Portal
Clients can add their insurance information in the portal during intake or anytime from their Billing tab, which helps make onboarding smoother for everyone. This article gives a clear look at what clients can and cannot do in the portal, how their information appears in the client chart, and what practitioners should review before using a client‑entered policy for billing.
ℹ️ Client‑entered insurance is not automatically ready for claims. Always review the policy for accuracy, especially the payer, Member ID, and coverage dates, before submitting claims.
In this article:
- Controlling Whether Clients Can Add Insurance
- What Clients Can and Cannot Do in the Portal
- What Practitioners See and What They Need to Review
- Reviewing Client‑Entered Insurance Policies
- How Client‑Entered Insurance Affects Claims
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Related Resources
Controlling Whether Clients Can Add Insurance
Collecting insurance through the portal is optional and can be enabled practice-wide or per client. These settings determine whether clients are prompted to add insurance during intake or from their portal. You can manage these settings in your portal configuration and in each client’s Requested Information panel.
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Practice wide default: A toggle in your portal settings determines whether clients are able to submit insurance.
- Per client override: Practitioners can turn insurance collection on or off for individual clients when sending a portal invitation.
ℹ️ When insurance collection is enabled, clients can add a policy during intake and can add additional policies later from their portal.
What Clients Can and Cannot Do in the Portal
Clients can:
- Add insurance during intake
- Add new Primary or Secondary policies later from their Billing tab
- Upload insurance card images or PDFs
- Enter an Effective Date and, if known, an End Date
Clients cannot:
- Edit an existing policy
- Remove a policy
- Mark a policy inactive
- Add or change End Dates after submission
- Correct typos or update coverage information
Clients can only add new policies. All edits must be made by the practice. For more information on adjusting these details, see Insurance: Managing Client Insurance Policies.
What Practitioners See and What They Need to Review
When a client submits insurance through the portal:
- The policy appears immediately in the client's chart under Billing > Settings > Insurance
- The policy displays a Needs Payer badge if the payer selected by the client does not match a Sessions Health payer record
- Attachments appear with the policy
- No notifications are sent, so practitioners must review the policy directly in the chart
Before using a client‑entered policy for billing, practitioners should:
- Confirm or adjust the payer
- Verify the insurance type
- Check the Member ID and other identifiers
- Review coverage dates
- Mark old policies inactive if needed
- Review attachments to ensure the insurance card matches the policy
Reviewing Client‑Entered Insurance Policies
When a client adds a new insurance policy through the portal, the policy may be marked as Needs Payer. This means the payer the client selected does not match a payer already set up in your account.
To complete the review:
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Go to Clients > [Client Name] > Billing > Settings.
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Scroll to the Insurance section.
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Select the three-dot menu under the policy marked Needs Payer and choose Edit.
- Choose the correct Payer Name from your list of payers.
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The name the client entered will appear below the field to help you match it.
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Select Save.
Once saved, the policy is fully set up and ready to use for billing.
ℹ️ If the correct payer does not appear in the list, add it first under Billing Settings > Insurance > Payers, then return to complete the review.
How Client‑Entered Insurance Affects Claims
Client‑entered policies appear as options when creating claims, even if they still show Needs Payer. Practitioners must ensure the policy is complete and accurate before submitting claims.
Coverage dates determine which policies appear for a given date of service. For full details, see Insurance: Managing Client Insurance Policies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did adding a new Primary policy automatically end the previous one?
To prevent overlapping coverage, Sessions Health may automatically add an End Date to the previous Primary policy when a new Primary policy is added. You can adjust these dates if needed.
Can clients edit or delete insurance once it is submitted?
No. Clients can only add new policies. All edits must be made by the practice.
What if a client uploads a card but skips fields?
Practitioners can fill in missing details when reviewing the policy.
Why does a policy show “Needs Payer”?
The payer selected by the client did not match an existing Sessions Health payer record. Select the correct payer from the dropdown.
Related Resources
For more information on managing insurance and submitting claims, see the resources below: