Do You Take Insurance?
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Often patients come to Dr. Weyrich because they are seeking an alternative to the standard of care provided by insurance companies or government programs.
Because functional diagnostic medicine and naturopathic treatment modalities differ from the model of medical care used by these third-party payers, coverage by insurance is not guaranteed. Some insurance carriers may cover medical services and laboratory tests performed by Dr. Weyrich (in whole or in part). Exactly which tests each insurance carrier covers varies greatly and must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
In order to keep costs low, we do not accept insurance or Medicare and we do not file insurance paperwork on your behalf. Instead we offer a "cash discount" price and provide a detailed receipt of services performed for you to submit to your insurance carrier for possible reimbursement.
Alternatives to Insurance
Patients may be able to gain greater control over the way their health-care dollars are spent by clarifying the meaning of the word "insurance". Insurance provides security by pooling risk to protect against expensive catastrophic events, such as major illnesses requiring hospitalization. You need insurance to cover these rare but expensive costs.While insurance can be a lifesaver in dire situations, its arcane and bureaucratic coverage rules (that are often negotiated between politicians, lobbyists, and the healthcare industry for political purposes) create a significant loss of flexibility when seeking treatments outside the medical model used by the insurance company.
The alternative to relying on insurance to cover all healthcare needs is to select a lower-cost, higher-deductible insurance policy that only covers catastrophic healthcare needs, and then to use the cost-savings to fund some sort of personal healthcare savings account to pay directly for non-catastrophic healthcare needs. This personal account can be a bank savings account or a special tax-sheltered account such as a Flexible Spending Account or a Healthcare Savings Account. Consult with your company benefits advisor and your insurance agent to choose the approach that gives you the best blend of security and flexibility for your individual situation.
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Depending on your employer, you may be able to establish a Flexible Medical Spending Account. These employer-sponsored payroll deduction plans may have tax benefits, and typically cover any product or service prescribed by a licensed health-care provider. The down-side of these plans is that any funds not consumed by the end of the year may be forfeited.Health-care Savings Accounts (HSA)
Another alternative to traditional insurance plans is the Heath Care Savings Account. The benefit of these plans is that funds do not need to be used before the end of the year, but instead can accumulate from year-to-year in a manner similar to a retirement account. Depending on the implementation, these plans may also give the patient great flexibility in choosing the treatments they desire. HSA potentially provide the most flexible and cost-effective health care, but are harder to find. Employers and lawmakers may need prodding to make these accounts as easy to obtain and manage as possible.References
Unless specifically noted above, references used in the construction of this web page include the following:[FDM] Lecture notes from Functional Medicine University.
[SCNM] Lecture notes from Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine.
[UT] Lecture notes from the University of Tennessee graduate programs in Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Copyright © 2007-2010 Dr. Weyrich. The information on this site is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease or illness. The statements on this website have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. If you have a health concern or medical condition, consult a licensed healthcare provider. Dr. Weyrich is licensed by the State of Arizona to practice medicine (license number 07-1008).
This web page is http://www.DrWeyrich.com/faq/insurance.html - Phone Dr. Weyrich at (480) 423-6952