Question about paying for therapy

S-Tuna

We met with an OT today that we want to work with DS this summer. He'll be two in July. We expected to just pay her out of pocket, and on the phone she told me she charges $50/hr for self-pay. Today she asked about our insurance and said she has worked with them before. She told me to call them on Monday and ask if they will cover his therapy with her. She said they might not because she isn't with a clinic, but it is worth the call to ask. We are set to start with her on Tuesday. I told her we would pay cash until we figured out whether insurance would cover it or not. She told me to just wait on paying until they decide. I am terrible at insurance. I am clueless, and as much as I'm trying to understand it I'd rather just pay her $50 and not worry about the insurance part. We have a $50 co-pay for OT visits. It would be $50 either way, right? So, does it actually benefit me at all to pay through insurance?