Why don’t we accept Medicare patients?
The doctor in this office is not a Medicare provider. The reason we don’t accept insurance is because the only chiropractic service Medicare reimburses for is manual manipulation of the spine. Medicare does not reimburse for chiropractic examinations, x-rays, therapies, or extraspinal adjustments (knee, elbow, ribs, TMJ, ankle, etc.) We don’t like letting high deductibles and unreasonable co-pays keeping patients from being healthy.
Everyday people call or walk in to the office with hope to use their health coverage, whether it be Medicare, Medicaid, insurance. When getting insurance, you were told that you were covered for everything with the exception of a deductible or co-pay. I loved all my patients, but it astounds me how people can be lied to over and over again by these companies. Is it because the coverage agent is a close friend, neighbor, or celebrity? Or have we just conformed into believing that these companies have our best interests at heart?
Explanation
Personally, I believe that Medicare should pay for everything for our seniors, but its been an uphill battle for half a century and counting. They expect that a patient is given x-rays, and an exam before treatment, but refuse to pay for them. By doing this, it creates costs for both the patient and clinic. They also require that every 30 days a re-evaluation be performed (which is another cost not covered by Medicare). The clinics can’t perform these services for free or else they would be enticing people to come to them over another clinic; which is both a state and federal crime.
Then what if the patient needs/wants other services or modalities to help recover faster? Are these services covered by insurance? Nope! But can’t those modalities or services better the patient help them heal faster? Yes! But we can’t perform these services for free due to state and federal laws as mentioned above. So it can be hard to have patients see where we are coming from.