Coverage: Blue Cross Blue Shield in California
Medication management in California, with Blue Cross Blue Shield coverage checked by plan.
California makes the Blue Cross Blue Shield structure impossible to miss: two different companies use versions of the name here, Blue Shield of California and Anthem Blue Cross, and they are separate insurers with separate networks. This practice is in network with many plans in the Blue Cross Blue Shield family. Because participation is by plan, not by name, your exact plan is verified and your exact cost stated before your first visit.
PsychMed Care is the medication management practice of Solutions Psychiatry. If you are looking for therapy, or therapy and medication together, the full practice is at psych.us.
What in network means here
Two shields in one state, and what that means for you
A California patient can hold a Blue Shield of California card, an Anthem Blue Cross card, or a Blue Cross Blue Shield card issued in another state entirely. Each is a different contract question, and this page treats them that way.
Separate companies, similar names
Blue Shield of California and Anthem Blue Cross are independent companies that both license the Blue Cross and Blue Shield names. Their networks and plan rules differ. The first step in verification is simply establishing which company issued your plan.
In network with many plans
The practice participates with many plans across the Blue Cross Blue Shield family, in more than a dozen states. That breadth is real, and it still does not license a blanket promise about any single card, which is why yours is checked by name and number before anything is scheduled on its strength.
Verification, stated in numbers
When you book, your plan is checked against the practice's contracts. You learn your copay, or that a deductible applies first, before the first appointment. If your plan is not a participating one, you hear that directly, with the published self-pay rates as the alternative.
The same careful prescribing
Coverage decides payment, never the care. One prescriber manages your complete medication list, orders labs drawn at any lab near you, and adjusts one medicine at a time so cause and effect stay visible.
If things reach the point of thoughts of harming yourself, help is available now: call or text 988, text HOME to 741741 for Crisis Text Line, or call the NAMI Helpline at 1-800-950-6264. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911. This practice is not an emergency service. The crisis page lists more options.
Care in California
Across California, by telehealth
Appointments are by secure video statewide, north to south. The practice keeps an office in San Francisco, at 220 Montgomery St #600, for in-person visits when federal or DEA requirements call for one, arranged with you in advance. Your prescriber is Karel Winner, a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Vanderbilt University, who also holds a graduate degree in education from Vanderbilt University. Medicare is also accepted in California.
How it starts
Verification comes first here
With two companies sharing one name in this state, the check is not a formality.
Book, with your card details
Choose a time online or by phone and enter the details from your card, including which company issued the plan.
Your plan is checked by name
Participation, copay, and deductible are confirmed and stated before the visit, in plain numbers.
The first appointment
A full 60 minutes: history, health, medication record, and a plan with a target. Follow-ups are 30 minutes of measurement and adjustment.
Cost and coverage
What it costs, and what your plan covers
The first appointment is a 60-minute Comprehensive Initial Appointment at $350. Follow-up Appointments run 30 minutes at $250 each. With a verified in-network plan, patients here typically pay a copay of $0 to $40 instead, and your exact figure is confirmed before your first visit. This practice is in network with many Blue Cross Blue Shield plans, and also with Aetna, Cigna and Evernorth, UnitedHealthcare and Optum, Oscar, Oxford, Carelon, and Providence, plus Medicare in Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas, and Utah, and Medicaid in Oregon and Wyoming. Care is by secure telehealth in 34 states plus DC, for ages 17 and up. You can book here, or call (800) 303-3221.
Related pages: this plan in other states, Blue Cross Blue Shield in Texas, Blue Cross Blue Shield in New York. Other plans in California: Aetna in California, Cigna in California, UnitedHealthcare in California. The full picture of what medication care costs is on the visits and fees page.
“Two companies use the same shield here. Mine was checked by name.”
Start with a 60-minute evaluation, your plan checked by name first