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I have the BEST patients!

Upon receiving her (first – she’s a new patient) billing statement, one patient looked at the adjustments column and said “What’s this?” 

I told her that they are the contractual adjustments I make because I am an in-network provider with her insurance.  She was incensed – not at me, at the tiny tiny amount the insurance companies feel acupuncture is worth.  She asked some other questions, like why I didn’t change my rates.  I pointed out that even if I did change my fees, all that would happen is that I would have to write off larger amounts. 

It really did my heart good to have a patient get so upset on my behalf.

 I love what I do & I have the BEST patients!  Thanks to all of you.

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Happy Rosh Hashanah!

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

For those of us who only know Rosh Hashanah as a holiday in our Outlook calendars, here’s a brief intro:

Rosh Hashanah, literally “Head of the year,” is a Jewish holiday and the first of the High Holidays which are days specifically set aside to focus on repentance that conclude with the holiday of Yom Kippur.  It is observed as a day of rest.  During the afternoon of the first day of Rosh Hashanah, or the second if the first falls on Shabbat, it is customary to observe the practice of tashlikh in which prayers are recited near natural flowing water, and one’s sins are symbolically cast into the water. Many also have the custom to throw bread or pebbles into the water, to symbolize the “casting off” of sins.

The traditional Hebrew greeting on Rosh Hashanah is shana tova for “[a] good year”, or shana tova umetukah for “[a] good and sweet year.” Because Jews and the world are being judged by God for the coming year, a longer greeting translates as “may you be written and sealed for a good year” (ketiva ve-chatima tovah).

Shana Tova  to all my Jewish patients and their families, friends and wider communities.  Let us all join together in the prayer that this new year will be a good and sweet one.

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Insurance

For more and more patients, insurance coverage for acupuncture is the make or break deciding factor.  I am pleased to announce that, through OptumHealth Physical Health of California, I will be a participating acupuncture provider for the following companies beginning 16th January 2010.

Great-West Healthcare
Health Allies
Medical Resource LLC
Secure Horizons
PacifiCare Health Systems
United Healthcare
Premera Blue Cross
Spring Hill School
Easy Choice Health Plan

I remain an in-network provider for Blue Shield of California.

If your health care coverage is with any of these plans, or any other, I encourage you to make 2010 the year you take control of your health.  Call to make an appointment and let acupuncture/traditional oriental medicine assist you toward radiant good health.