The Counseling Compact Is Live in Indiana. But Can You Bill Insurance Yet?

Last updated: June 18, 2026.

The Counseling Compact went live in Georgia on June 2, 2026, and in Indiana on June 8, 2026. Eligible counselors whose home state is Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, or Ohio can now apply for privileges to practice in the other live states. See the Counseling Compact implementation update.

For Indiana counselors, the eligible license is the independently licensed LMHC. Associate counselors, social workers, psychologists, and marriage and family therapists are not covered by this compact simply because they also provide therapy.

The short version: a Counseling Compact privilege can answer whether you may practice in another compact state. It does not automatically answer whether an insurance company will credential you, put you on the right roster, or pay the claim in network.

Translation for billing teams: treat "can the clinician see the client?" and "can we bill the client's insurance?" as two different questions.

TL;DR: The Compact Is Live, But Billing Is Separate

• Georgia went live on June 2, 2026. Georgia's Secretary of State says Georgia began issuing compact privileges at 10:30 a.m. ET that day. Read the Georgia update.

• Indiana went live on June 8, 2026. The Counseling Compact says Indiana began issuing privileges at 1:00 p.m. ET and is now one of the live states. See the compact news page.

• The currently live states are Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Ohio. The compact page lists those states as live for eligible licensees. See current implementation status.

• Indiana's eligible license is LMHC. The compact application page identifies Indiana Licensed Mental Health Counselors who are licensed and living in Indiana as eligible to apply for privileges in the other live states. See application details.

• Insurance billing is not automatic. The compact's application page warns that online platforms and insurance companies may not accept the privilege to practice for billing purposes. Read the billing warning.

What Changed in Indiana and Georgia?

The Counseling Compact is no longer just a future licensure-portability idea. It is operational in a limited set of states.

Georgia became operational on June 2, 2026. Indiana followed on June 8, 2026, becoming the sixth state to begin issuing and accepting Counseling Compact privileges. The live states are Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Ohio.

That means an eligible Indiana LMHC can apply for permission to practice in Arizona, Georgia, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Ohio. It also means eligible counselors from those live states can apply for a privilege to practice with clients located in Indiana.

This is a real improvement for counselors whose clients travel, relocate, attend college in another state, or split time between multiple homes. It may also make telehealth expansion more practical for some practices.

But the privilege is not automatic. Counselors must apply for each remote state where they want to practice, and the compact only works where the relevant states are live and accepting privileges.

Who Can Use the Counseling Compact?

The compact currently applies to independently licensed professional counselors. The license title varies by state, but the clinician must be authorized to independently assess, diagnose, and treat behavioral health conditions.

• Indiana: LMHC

• Arizona, Georgia, and Louisiana: LPC

• Minnesota and Ohio: LPCC

Indiana LMHCAs and other associate, provisional, or supervised-level counselors are not eligible. The compact FAQ also says someone licensed as an LMFT or LCSW is typically not eligible through the Counseling Compact because the compact is tied to professional counseling licensure. Read the counselor FAQ.

The home-state piece matters too. The compact's current implementation language is framed around counselors licensed by a live state and living in that state. So an Indiana license by itself may not be enough if Indiana is not the counselor's home state.

Georgia has an additional step: Georgia LPCs must first submit an amendment application through the Georgia GOALS licensing system and be deemed compact eligible before applying through CompactConnect. See Georgia's compact instructions.

What a Compact Privilege Actually Gives You

A compact privilege gives an eligible counselor authority to practice in a specific remote state without obtaining a full traditional license there. It is not one national counseling license, and it is not a blanket permission slip for every compact state.

Once the privilege number appears on the counselor's dashboard, the compact says the counselor can start practicing in that remote state. The FAQ also says entities can verify privileges through CompactConnect. See the compact FAQ.

For telehealth, the important state is usually where the client is physically located during the session.

For example, imagine an Indiana LMHC has a longtime client who moves to Georgia. The therapist cannot keep seeing that client based only on an Indiana license. The therapist would need authority to practice in Georgia, which could now come through a Georgia compact privilege.

If that same client later joins a session while physically located in Ohio, the Georgia privilege would not cover that session. The therapist would also need authority to practice in Ohio.

Can You Bill Insurance Using a Compact Privilege?

Maybe. But do not assume so.

The Counseling Compact's application page specifically says online platforms and insurance companies may not accept the privilege to practice for billing purposes and recommends checking before requesting a privilege. Read the compact application guidance.

The practical rule: the compact answers whether you are legally allowed to practice. The payer decides whether you are allowed to bill as an in-network provider.

Those are two different systems.

An Indiana LMHC might receive a Georgia compact privilege and become legally authorized to treat a client located in Georgia. But that therapist's Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Medicaid managed care, or other payer relationship may still list only Indiana. The payer may require separate credentialing, a contract amendment, a Georgia network application, an additional service location, or placement on the group's Georgia roster.

Another payer might accept the compact privilege with a provider-data update. A third might not yet have a clear policy. The compact does not make those payer decisions.

A Simple Billing Example

Suppose an Indiana group practice employs an LMHC who receives a compact privilege to practice in Ohio.

The therapist is now legally permitted to provide counseling to a client located in Ohio. That does not necessarily mean the group should immediately tell the client that services will be in network.

Before doing that, the practice needs to determine whether the client's plan recognizes the compact privilege, whether the clinician is participating in the relevant Ohio network, whether the group's contract extends into Ohio, and whether the clinician has been added to the correct payer roster.

The billing system may also need updated license or privilege information, payer enrollment data, service locations, telehealth claim settings, or rendering-provider configuration.

If those pieces are not complete, the therapist may be allowed to provide the session while the claim still denies, processes out of network, or pays under the wrong contract.

What Indiana Therapists Should Confirm Before Seeing an Out-of-State Client

Before treating an out-of-state client as in network, ask the payer directly whether it accepts a Counseling Compact privilege in that state.

Then confirm:

• whether separate credentialing or contracting is required

• whether the privilege must be added to the provider's payer record

• whether a new state, service location, or telehealth location must be loaded

• whether a group-practice roster update is required

• which network or product line applies to that client's plan

• what effective date applies for in-network billing

• whether the claim should use a different billing provider, rendering provider, taxonomy, or service facility setup

"Application received" is not the same as "you may bill in network today."

Practices should also confirm that malpractice coverage applies in the remote state and review that state's telehealth consent, documentation, emergency planning, recordkeeping, and advertising rules. The compact says privilege holders should review applicable advertising law in each state, and the same practical caution applies across the rest of the clinical workflow. See the compact FAQ.

What Group Practices Need to Track

The compact could create real growth opportunities for group practices. An Indiana group may be able to serve clients in several additional states without requiring every eligible counselor to complete five traditional license applications.

But expansion can create a messy middle where clinicians are legally authorized in multiple states while payer records are still incomplete.

For each clinician and state, group owners should track:

• whether the compact privilege is active

• which payers recognize the privilege for billing

• which networks the clinician has actually joined

• when each payer participation status became effective

• whether the clinician appears correctly on payer rosters

• whether claim settings match the payer's requirements

• when the privilege expires and when it must be renewed

That last point matters. A compact privilege expires on the same date as the counselor's home-state license at the time the privilege is issued. Renewing the home license does not automatically update the privilege expiration date. The counselor must renew the privilege in CompactConnect after the home state renews and reports the new expiration date. See the compact renewal guidance.

That is a small administrative detail until it becomes a denied-claim problem.

The Compact Is Still a Big Win

None of this means the Counseling Compact is not valuable.

It is a major improvement over completing a full licensing application every time an independently licensed counselor wants to serve clients in another participating state. It can improve continuity when clients relocate, expand access in underserved areas, and make interstate telehealth hiring more realistic.

The mistake would be treating the compact privilege as a universal pass that solves licensing, credentialing, contracting, rosters, claims, and billing all at once.

It solves the licensure problem. The insurance work still has to happen.

Where Bomi Fits

Bomi helps therapy practices with the part that gets operationally annoying after the legal authority question is answered: credentialing, payer enrollment, roster updates, benefits checks, claims, denials, and state-by-state billing details.

If your practice is using the Counseling Compact to expand across state lines, the clean workflow is to line up licensure authority, payer acceptance, credentialing status, roster data, claims setup, and eligibility checks before telling clients the session will be in network.

See how Bomi handles credentialing and billing operations.

Shameless Bomi plug: you see clients. We help make sure the payer-side setup does not quietly break the revenue pipeline.

Bottom Line

The Counseling Compact is now live in Indiana and Georgia, joining Arizona, Louisiana, Minnesota, and Ohio.

Eligible independently licensed counselors can apply for privileges to practice across those live states. Indiana LMHCs may now have a much easier path to serving clients in several additional states.

But a compact privilege does not automatically make a therapist in network.

Before treating an out-of-state client under their insurance benefits, confirm that the payer recognizes the privilege and determine whether additional credentialing, contracting, roster placement, or billing setup is required.

The compact may let you see the client. The payer still decides whether and how it will pay the claim.

Sources

• Counseling Compact: current implementation status

• Counseling Compact: application information

• Counseling Compact: counselor FAQ

• Counseling Compact: fees by state

• Counseling Compact: news page

• Georgia Secretary of State: Counseling Compact

• Bomi Credentialing

• Bomi Billing