Headway.co DOES accept Carelon Behavioral Health thru NYSHIP

PSA for NYS employees using Carelon and Headway.

If Headway tells you your Carelon insurance is “not accepted,” do not assume that is actually true.

I am a NYS employee with Carelon Behavioral Health, which is accepted by Headway. Both my insurance and my husband’s initially showed as not accepted in Headway’s system. Later, I was also told my own insurance was out of network, even though it had previously been confirmed as in network.

After contacting support, it became clear this is likely an insurance verification issue on Headway’s end, not a true coverage issue. Their automated system seems to struggle with Carelon plans.

A few things that may help if this happens to you.

Do not assume you are actually out of network just because the platform says so.
Each person has to contact Headway from their own account and email for HIPAA reasons.
Ask for a manual review or escalation, especially if you were previously told you were in network.
Keep records of what you were told and when.

Posting this so others do not delay care or give up based on a system error. If you have Carelon and run into this on Headway, push for clarification.