We offer Telehealth… During the pandemic and year-round

Does Insurance Cover
Speech-Language Therapy?
Many Policies Do!

small practice. BIG RESULTS!

As a small, locally owned and operated practice, Cheerful Chatter and Ellen McSpadden, MA, CCC-SLP, CAS are there when you need them. Your child’s progress is our top priority. That means we keep in touch with their doctors, therapists, and teachers. This level of communication allows everyone to be committed to the same goals, on the same page, and working together to help your child make genuine progress across all areas of their life.

We Are In-Network With BCBS

We accept most non-Medicaid and non-Medicare Blue Cross/Blue Shield Insurance Plans.

We Check Benefits & Submit Claims Directly to Other Carriers

We know that dealing with insurance can be confusing and tricky. We will call any insurance company, even if we are out-of-network. While we can never guarantee the accuracy of what we learn, we will do our best to give you a clear picture of what they’ll cover and what costs you’ll be responsible for. We will take your payment at the time of service and then handle all the paperwork for you that same day! You’ll receive any applicable reimbursement directly from your carrier… typically within about three weeks.

Payment Options

For your convenience, we accept cash, checks, and all major credit and debit cards. 

  • These include: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, JCB, and UnionPay.
  • Types of cards include: credit, debit (processed as credit), corporate, registered prepaid, and rewards cards.
  • Cards from Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) are also accepted!​

Use of electronic payment methods will incur a surcharge equal to that charged by Square.

Need Financial Assistance?

If in- or out-of-network insurance coverage is unavailable, Cheerful Chatter offers discounted therapy packages.  These nonrefundable, prepaid packages of four sessions are available for $300.

 Small Steps in Speech is a local, non-profit organization dedicated to providing grants to children without coverage for therapies, treatments, communicative devices, or other services aimed at improving their communication skills.  To inquire about grant applications or to help this most worthy organization through donations, fundraising events, or volunteering please click here.

UnitedHealthcare Children’s Foundation is a charitable organization that provides medical grants to help children gain access to health-related services not covered, or not fully covered, by their family’s commercial health insurance plan. For more information, visit their website by clicking here.

Still Not Sure?

Some of our clients begin the process with an initial consultation. These discounted, 30-minute appointments offer you the opportunity to visit the office and get to know your therapist. Ellen McSpadden, MA, CCC-SLP, CAS will answer your questions and together you will develop a treatment plan that meets your goals and your child’s needs.

Cancellation Policy

To avoid a fee, morning appointments must be cancelled by 7:00 pm EST the evening before. Afternoon and evening appointments must be cancelled by 9:00 am EST the day of. After these times, cancelled appointments will incur a fee equal to 50% of the scheduled service. All appointments cancelled within two hours of the scheduled start time or missed entirely will incur a fee equal to 100% of the scheduled service. These policies apply regardless of the reason for the cancellation.

Attendance Policy

In order to maintain reserved weekly appointment time(s), clients must maintain an overall attendance rate of at least 85%. If your rate falls, we will no longer be able to reserve those times for you on a recurring basis. At that point, we will ask you to schedule on a week-to-week basis, as per our current availabilities.