Is Functional Medicine Covered by Insurance?
”Do you accept insurance?” This is likely the most asked question we receive at Soul of Medicine, and we understand! Seeking medical help is a serious decision that should consider your individual situation and needs. Whether you choose to visit a conventional doctor or a functional doctor, both come with their own financial considerations. That’s why we wanted to inform our future patients of a few reasons why we do not accept insurance and offer a few alternatives to hopefully lessen the expense.
#1: Insurance-based models have rules and regulations to work with.
Running an insurance-based model practice works well for larger companies and businesses. However, as a small business practicing functional medicine, running an insurance-based model comes with a lot of red tape. For me, it would mean spending less time with my patients, increased prices and visits, and more restrictions and regulations. For you, the patient, it would mean hurried appointments, mediocre solutions, and spending more time and money for less results.
#2: Most insurance ultimately does not cover functional medicine.
This is a struggle all functional medicine practitioners face as functional medicine continues to become more popular. Currently, functional medicine is not considered “a means of addressing your health” to insurance providers. Of course, we disagree and strongly believe it will be in the future. Unfortunately, most insurance providers won’t cover the functional work we do at Soul of Medicine.
The advantage of being a private-pay facility like we are is that you will not incur any hidden fees, and you are informed of exactly what you’re paying for before you are even provided the service.
#3: No insurance means we have more freedom.
By choosing to run as a functional medicine model of care instead of an insurance-based model, we are able to have more freedom with our practice. We are able to be more patient-centered, and are granted the freedom to practice different types, scopes, and lengths of care as needed per individual.
What does that mean, you ask? We can spend as much time with our patients as deemed necessary, and work together on your specific needs. We’ve found this is often what allows us to be the most successful in helping our our patients in their healing journeys and allows us to be more available to our patients.
“The challenge of this model [insurance-based] is balancing the delivery of more thorough care and experiencing the rewards of clinical success against offering functional medicine to a wider range of patients.” - The Institute for Functional Medicine
We know that functional medicine is a great expense for many individuals, but here are the questions we pose—How long have you been suffering? How many solutions have you tried? What have those solutions cost you—in terms of your life and how you live it?
We wish that insurance covered much more of what we do. However, after years of experience practicing functional medicine, we can assure you that this is far less expensive than the alternative—doing nothing or continuing down the same path.
Add up the amount of time you’ve spent suffering from your illness, ailment, or uncomfortable symptoms the amount of money you’ve spent trying to find solutions that never stick. Then think about how much it’s cost you in terms of your quality of life. Once you look at the full picture, we bet functional medicine is well worth the investment.
If you’re ready to make the right investment into your health and wellness, be sure to book your in-person or virtual appointment today with Soul of Medicine at https://www.kaycorpusmd.com/work-with-kay.
*If you are still struggling with the financial side of the decision, we suggest looking into an app called Reimbursify that may help you with filing reimbursement claims with your insurance provider.