"Do You Take Insurance?"

One of the first and most common questions we're asked is, "do you take insurance?"

At San Antonio Family Alternative Medicine, the therapeutic relationship is as it should be: between you and your doctor.  The focus is also where it should be: your health and wellbeing.

If insurance reimbursement is a concern, we highly recommend contacting your insurance company to see if they cover any preventive care. We'll happily provide you with a receipt that you can submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement.  Payment for all Functional Medicine services is due in full at the time of service.

About Lab Testing:

Many of the lab companies we deal with DO accept insurance (with the exception of the co-ops described below).  The question is whether or not your insurance company will cooperate.  If insurance coverage is a priority, we strongly recommend contacting your insurance company ahead of time to see which tests they will and will not cover.

Please understand that insurance coverage does not influence Dr. Sweeney's standard of care, testing orders, or other recommendations.  Whether or not you carry insurance coverage, you will receive the same thorough treatment and high quality of care.

We strongly recommend paying out-of-pocket for your lab tests.  This protects you against a "balance-bill" situation, in which an out-of-touch insurance company does not deem certain test codes "medically necessary" and denies payment.  The lab will immediately send you a very large bill for the full list price of the testing.

If insurance will cover some tests but not all of them (a common scenario), then you will need to add up your anticipated co-pays and the costs of individual non-covered tests; it is possible that going through your insurance company would actually be a more expensive option.  This is because we order our testing in large panels that qualify for deeply discounted pricing, much like ordering in bulk at Sam's Club or Costco.  Many times, it is cheaper not to utilize your insurance policy.

What about discount web sites that offer lab testing?

Certain websites such as HealthCheck USA and others offer fairly full test panels, and doctor's orders aren't required. Please know that as extensive and comprehensive as these test panels appear, even THEY sometimes don't tell us the whole story. We highly recommend waiting until after you've seen Dr. Sweeney before ordering any lab work so that she can tell you exactly what tests you need. That way, you won't waste time or money.

The Preventive Health Approach...

Please understand that much of your treatment will not be reimbursed by insurance. Why? We have no good answer, and we quit asking a long time ago. Suffice it to say that the insurance industry is a disease-based crisis care model orchestrated by the pharmaceutical drug industry that waits until your misery becomes advanced enough that it can no longer be avoided. The current health care model makes money on sick people. If you make your money on sick people, you want sick people. The Functional Medicine paradigm seeks health-minded, proactive people. You simply now must choose which camp you'd rather be in--the sick people, or the health-minded/proactive group.

We're happy to provide you an itemized receipt with each visit--just ask! The best approach to insurance is to submit your receipts and expect nothing; that way, if you do happen to receive partial (or full) reimbursement, it comes as a pleasant surprise.