The short answer
ValorWell is a telehealth network where fully licensed therapists treat veterans, spouses, and children of veterans as independent contractors. You make the clinical calls, set your hours, and choose your caseload. ValorWell handles credentialing, authorizations, billing, claims, scheduling tools, and intake.
How does ValorWell work for therapists?
You handle the therapy. ValorWell handles almost everything else.
ValorWell is a telehealth-first network. Fully licensed therapists join as 1099 independent contractors and treat Veterans, Veteran spouses, and children of Veterans. The clinical work and the clinical decisions stay with you. ValorWell runs the business side that usually eats a solo therapist's evenings: credentialing, authorizations, billing, claims follow-up, scheduling tools, intake, and referrals.
The idea is simple. Supporting therapists well is one of the best ways to get more Veterans and their families into care. Every hour you don't spend on hold with a payer is an hour you can spend with a client, or with your own life.
What stays with you?
Everything clinical, and most things about how you work:
- Clinical decisions. Assessment, diagnosis, treatment approach, goals, session frequency, whether treatment continues, referrals, and discharge. These stay with you, within law, ethics, your scope, and payer rules.
- Who you see. You decide whether a referral is a clinical fit. You set the youngest age you'll treat, or see adults only.
- When you work. You set your availability: mornings, evenings, certain days, a handful of hours or a full week.
- How much you work. You choose your capacity and can stop taking new clients any time.
- Your other work. The arrangement is nonexclusive. You can keep a private practice, other contracts, or a job.
What does ValorWell take off your plate?
The administrative work that comes with billing insurance and VA programs:
- Credentialing for ValorWell's care pathways. You supply your information and documents; ValorWell does the processing and follow-up.
- Authorizations for programs that need them, such as VA Community Care.
- Billing and claims, including submission, payer follow-up, and denials.
- Intake and referrals. Veterans and family members reach ValorWell, and ValorWell routes them to clinicians.
- Technology. A custom electronic health record (EHR) built with input from practicing clinicians, with AI-assisted documentation, scheduling, and telehealth tools.
Who are the clients, and how is care paid for?
Clients are Veterans, Veteran spouses, and children of Veterans. ValorWell can serve clients as young as about 10, but that depends entirely on you; plenty of clinicians see adults only.
Care is paid for through three pathways:
| Pathway | Who it covers |
|---|---|
| CHAMPVA | Eligible spouses, survivors, and children of certain Veterans |
| VA Community Care | Eligible Veterans, when VA authorizes care outside VA |
| ValorWell Foundation | Veterans and families who need treatment the VA won't cover |
TRICARE is not a ValorWell pathway. For how the programs differ, see CHAMPVA vs. TRICARE vs. VA Community Care.
How do pay, no-shows, and notes work?
- Pay is weekly. You're paid each week for the sessions you documented during that pay period.
- Denials don't come out of your pay. If a payer denies a claim, ValorWell deals with it.
- No-shows. When a client no-shows, ValorWell bills the client a reduced no-show fee where program rules allow it, and the full amount goes to you. VA Community Care doesn't allow no-show charges, so ValorWell limits how many sessions those clients can miss, to protect your time.
- No one chases you about notes. There's no official note deadline. A session is paid in the pay period its note is completed, so if you finish a note the following week, it's paid that week.
ValorWell doesn't publish rates on these resource pages. Ask about current pay when you talk with the team.
Who is ValorWell a good fit for?
It tends to fit therapists who:
- Are fully licensed (LPC, LPCC, LMHC, LMFT, LCSW, psychologist, or another independent license that can bill insurance).
- Want to serve Veterans and military families without learning VA billing themselves.
- Want control over their hours and caseload size, including a small caseload next to other work.
- Are comfortable working by telehealth.
It isn't a fit right now for associates who need supervision, for prescribers, or for anyone who needs W-2 benefits or an in-person office. See What a Therapist Needs to Join ValorWell.
How ValorWell handles this
The policies above are the model. Here's how it plays out when something needs attention:
- You need help. Contact the admin team. They generally respond within a few hours, often right away.
- A documentation problem comes up. ValorWell's first move is to look at its own system and see what support or adjustment would make it easier. The working assumption is that therapists are doing excellent work.
- You want to slow down. Turn off new clients in the EHR or reduce your availability.
- You want to leave. You can leave at any time. The one expectation is enough notice, clinically appropriate for your clients, so ValorWell can find each of them a new clinician.
Important limits
- Referrals aren't guaranteed. Volume depends on demand in your state, client eligibility, authorizations, and fit.
- You're a contractor, not an employee. That means no W-2 benefits, and you handle your own taxes. See W-2 vs. 1099.
- You carry your own malpractice coverage. ValorWell doesn't provide it.
- Licensure follows the client. You can only see clients located in states where you're licensed.
- Documentation still matters. No deadline doesn't mean no standards; payer, ethics, and licensing rules for records still apply.
- ValorWell can't control VA decisions. VA decides eligibility and authorizations for its programs.