Hello Swan Lakers!
We hope this finds you well. We have a lot to announce this month, including changes to our Medicare participating status, Ginger's participating status with insurance networks, changes to our cash packages, and welcoming a new employee to our team.
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We have decided to restructure some of our insurance networking and billing. All of the changes listed below go into effect January 1st and are tough decisions we have had to make in an ever-changing insurance landscape. Each change reflects our office trying to balance how to best serve our patients and community, along with ever raising costs of operation.
Our office has always been "in-network" with as many insurance networks as possible, with the understanding that many patients rely on receiving chiropractic care based on their available insurance benefits. We believe that every spine deserves care, which is one reason we have always participated in all of these insurance networks. However, many major insurance company's reimbursement rates for chiropractors have not increased in over 17 years, which has led us to make some of the changes outlined below. We have tried our best to keep as many options open as possible to as many patients as possible.
We would also like to point out that if it works into your budget, the cost of our new monthly wellness plan (listed below) is not much more than most deductible-based policies, and is certainly less expensive than even the current "3-pack" we offer.
MEDICARE
As of January 1, 2022 Swan Lake will no longer be participating with Medicare. As a non-participating provider, we will be collecting full payment from the patient after each visit, then Medicare (and a secondary insurance if that is the case) will reimburse the patient directly once they process the visit. Swan Lake will still submit the visit to Medicare, but the patient will be responsible for the full payment at the time of the visit.
This does not apply to Medicare replacement plans such as AARP, United, Blue Cross Blue Shield, etc. Any changes to those major medical insurance policies will be outlined below.
Our senior rate visits at $45 will still be available for maintenance care.
ALL OTHER INSURANCE
Ginger will no longer be a participating provider with any of the other insurance companies we are currently in-network with (United Healthcare, Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Aetna, etc.). Patients seeing her next year will be paying out-of-pocket for appointments with her.
Pat and Joe will still be in-network, and Swan Lake will still be billing insurance companies as usual for patients who have adjustments by either of them. Ginger is encouraging her patients who wish to still use their insurance to set up appointments with either Patrick or Joseph. You can read more about them on our website here.
While Ginger will no longer be in-network with major insurance companies, she is still looking forward to continuing the care of any patient who would like to come see her, and as we stated above, the cost of our new monthly wellness program (listed below) is not much more than most deductible-based policies. She will also still be seeing Medicare patients as listed above.
CASH/OUT-OF-POCKET
We will be switching from a package-based cash practice to a monthly wellness plan. So, instead of pre-paying visits for future use, we will be setting up monthly charges on credit cards we keep on file for monthly maintenance. These plans will be available to patients who have completed initial care, usually about the first 8-12 visits after a patient's first appointment (this is something the doctor and patient decide during the initial phase of care, depending on the patient's progress). Existing maintenance patients can transition directly into this plan. In case of a flare up, patients on the wellness plan can come in for additional visits at the rate of their plan.
Our new plans are:
1 visit per month = $55.00
2 visits per month = $99.00
Decompression packages will remain the same.
Our senior rate visits at $45 will still be available.
Any existing packages that have been purchased at the old rates will be valid until they run out or expire. If you'd like to purchase any of the currently available packages before the system changes, we will happily set that up for you before the end of this year. Just give us a call/text/email or talk to us at your next appointment.
If you have any questions about the new plans, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office.
WELCOME, LILY!
Lily is our newest addition to the front office team. She is replacing Seren, who has moved out of state. We are happy to welcome her, and she is looking forward to meeting each of you. You can read more about her on our website.
That is all the news for now! Please don't hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions or concerns, and we look forward to seeing you at your next appointment.