Ah, the common question: Do you take my insurance? Is acupuncture covered by my insurance? While I’d like to answer an easy ‘yes’ to both of those questions, the decision is not actually up to me. Since you are most likely seeking out an acupuncturist to help with a condition you are experiencing, it would only make sense that your health care coverage recognize the treatment modality – right?
Truth be told, while there are many insurance companies out there who do cover acupuncture services, there are still many plans who do not. To avoid confusion here at ESEMA we do not accept or “take” any particular insurance and have not made any agreements with specific insurance carriers. As limiting as this may sound, you actually still have a likely chance at getting some sort of return on your investment – and no corners cut on treatment quality or time.
The Super Bill
In exchange for patronage up-front, we provide our patients with the proper insurance receipts (including diagnosis codes) for submission to their individual insurance carrier. These receipts are known in the medical world as “Super Bills,” and if your insurance company covers out-of-network acupuncture treatments, then you will most likely receive full to partial reimbursement for your treatments. If your insurance company will not reimburse you for the services rendered, the receipts may be able to be applied to your deductible or accepted into a flex-spending account. Many of our patients find these receipts to be quite useful in saving them money throughout the course of their care.
Check It Out In The New York Times
The New York Times recently wrote a wonderful article about the benefits of acupuncture, and how even though paying out of pocket for such services may cost you more up-front, that you may be saving money in the long run preventing illness and avoiding other more costly medical procedures. To read the full well-researched article, click here.
Other Options
Perhaps paying full-cost out of pocket is not in your feasible budget. While we try to help as many people as we can through payment plans and package options, we have a network of referrals to other resources in the city who operate under different models and who therefore are able to reduce up-front costs to patients. There are some acupuncturists out there who do form alliances with insurance companies so that the only cost up-front is the cost your traditional copay. Such clinics often hire a staff to handle their billing, to ensure proper and timely payment, much like a traditional doctor’s office. Depending on the clinic, this model may also speed up patient care to churn out more clients to make up for insufficient reimbursements (depending on the clinic).
Another option to save money on treatments up-front are community acupuncture clinics. ESEMA Healing Arts is a fan of two different community style clinics in New York City wherein the office visit and treatment are based on a sliding scale. To make up for the lower cost, the patient-practitioner intake is often shortened and your resting period with the needles is often shared in a room with other patients (as opposed to the private rooms offered at ESEMA Healing Arts.
Navigating Your Way
We are happy to connect you with the resources you need so that you can get the care that you deserve. Please contact us directly with questions, as we are happy to provide useful tips for navigating the often complex web of insurance carriers.