Your Insurance Company Doesn’t Give Two Shits About You

Your Insurance Company Doesn’t Give Two Shits About You Barefoot Rehabilitation Clinic
Insurance-Company-Two-Shits

05 Sep Your Insurance Company Doesn’t Give Two Shits About You

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I’m sorry for cursing.

But it helps to emphasize importance when your health is at risk …

… When a problem could be allowed to grow bigger and scarier than it could if you saw your body and health with real perspective. Like the weed that’s easy to pull as a little sprout instead of a 4-foot tall monster.  Imagine catching a malignant tumor in your aging parent when it’s the size of a pea instead of the size of a grapefruit. Or the cartilage tear or disc problem that’s only minor in annoyance instead of something that debilitates you on a daily basis.

Yeah, this is worth cursing about.

Reddit said this about giving two shits.

dont-give-two-shits

Which brings us to your health insurance company.

Your health insurance company doesn’t give two shits about you.

A Letter From Your PCP

A doctor colleague of mine received a brochure from his PCP about changes to his insurance benefits.

At his annual physical, my colleague’s doctor would help him prevent conditions and diagnoses. But he is not allowed to “discuss a new or unstable chronic condition.”

“Additional charges” would occur if:

  • the dosage of his medication has to change (even if it’s because his blood pressure went up or down).
  • his blood markers need to be checked.
  • any new medical problem is discussed.

Last, it mentions why the doctor has implemented these changes …

We are required by law to follow established guidelines for all visits. [the boldness is mine]

Thanks, Government.

WTF?

I’m all for preventing cancers, heart attacks, and haunting pains.

What if, the doctor finds something?

It’s going to cost you. Insurance isn’t covering it.

What if, you want to discuss a new problem?

It’s going to cost you. Insurance isn’t covering it.

In our office at Barefoot Rehab, we consult with anyone about their injury/condition for FREE. Email scheduling@barefootrehab.com or call the office at 862-205-4847 to schedule your consultation and discuss your annoying, frustrating pain that isn’t going away.

We can’t help everyone and talking about your problem lets us know whether we can help or not.  If people want to pursue permanent pain relief, then we schedule another visit to:

  • Get a full history.
  • Perform a full exam.
  • Diagnose the condition.
  • Give a Report of Findings.

The reason why we need to do all of those things is that:

The right treatment for the right diagnosis results in pain-relief, no matter if you’ve had pain for months or years or if you’ve been to 3-5 other doctors or therapists without relief.

It’s just like finding a nail and getting your trusty hammer to nail it in.

What most doctors do is use one tool (a screwdriver) and use it for nails, screws, and nuts.

It doesn’t work.

Still, seeing us or any other doctor is going to cost you.

Your insurance company will pretend to have your best interest in mind. You will be paying $1,000’s per month, expecting to get high quality care from your in-network provider, and receive no or only temporary relief.

Rather than flushing your money down the drain (or better yet, fattening the pockets of the insurance companies that don’t care about you), wouldn’t you rather your money go directly to the doctors who are actually fixing you?

Why the “Good” Doctors Are Starting to Only Take Cash

More and more doctors are only taking cash (Time).

Patients are appreciating the transparency and results-oriented goals of doctors who promise healing and relief.  In return, those doctors love growing their practice by making their patients as happy as possible with their care and growing a massive list of testimonials (Google Reviews | Facebook Reviews).

At Barefoot Rehab, we accept cash payments or out-of-network benefits.

The reason why we are not in-network is because we do not want insurance companies to dictate care based on their rules and guidelines.

We’ve seen enough patients ride the Medical Merry-Go-Round that the thought of riding it ourselves makes us want to throw up. We even tried going in-network in the spring of 2017 and found that our doctors and staff were spending 10 or more hours per week fighting the insurance companies, sending in our clinical notes, only to get denied completely or reimbursed as little as $10 per treatment. I travel to Chicago or Boston 6-12 times per year for Integrative Diagnosis training, spending $20,000-$30,000 per year on my continuing education! How am I supposed to be the best doctor possible when I’m arguing on the phone with insurance companies who string us along with lies. I would rather be spending that time serving my patients with top quality care than on-hold for 20-30 minutes waiting to speak with an insurance representative who knows nothing about my patient’s condition nor cares about them getting better.

With that $10 check, I might as well have wiped my … nevermind.

There isn’t even a diagnosis code for fascial adhesion. So if we played by their rules, NONE of the patients who we’ve helped over the past 7 years (or that we’re currently helping) would have gotten better and we would not have received payment from ANY insurance companies.

According to the Time article, it’s not just the wealthy who are seeking out cash doctors.

Nowadays many of the people seeking cash-based care are middle-class Americans with high-deductible insurance plans.

Proponets of the free-market system for healthcare note concerns for low-income individuals who need care.

That’s why:

For a direct-pay system to work, she says, providers must be willing to give away care. “Charity has always been part of the medical practice,” she says. (Smith and Lantier say they perform charitable operations, although to avoid being inundated with requests, they don’t report details.)

Just like we do at Barefoot Rehab.

If an individual honestly needs the care and shows that they’re working and doing the best they can to receive income, we’re completely open to having a conversation about discounting our already fair rates of $75 per treatment.

Choose Wisely

The insurance companies just want to keep as much of their money as possible.

According to my colleague’s PCP, the government is helping them do it.

We all must advocate for ourselves.

And when we see any healthcare provider or doctor, we have to know what results we expect to get from seeing that doctor.

If you don’t give two shits about your body and see the doctor who isn’t rewarded for getting as many people out of pain, what do you expect?

Sure, you can choose the chiropractor near you. Many of our patients started with this. Rather than permanently getting out of pain as quickly as possible, their local chiropractor or physical therapist kept them coming back for as many visits as their insurance company would allow per year, year after year. Interesting that the insurance company gets to dictate how many visits you need to get better and not your doctor.

Are you ready to get out of the pain you’re in and prevent it from coming back in the future? Maybe it’s time to ditch the in-network providers.

speechbubblesWhat has your experience been with your health insurance? Is your monthly premium worth it? Have you considered getting the highest deductible plan possible to lower your premium as much as possible for emergencies, then paying cash for all non-covered services?

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Dr. Chris Stepien, DC, Full-Body ID Certified, ART Certified, CSCS, and CrossFit Level 1 Certified, fixes your annoying and frustrating pains, even when it's been over 6 months and you've seen 3-5 other doctors or therapists without lasting relief Barefoot Rehab in Denville, NJ. And when you're sad, depressed, or not enjoying life, Dr. Chris wants to hug you. He invites you to reach out, no matter what your concern is. Barefoot Rehab is here to serve you.
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16 Comments
  • Jane Carrington
    Posted at 22:18h, 11 April Reply

    I know I have Piriformis and Scatica syndrome.
    I’m ready to come to whatever location is close to central Illinois.
    Years of treatments that don’t even touch the problem and years of massage therapy.
    The only relief I get is with Yoga.

  • Sean Helvey
    Posted at 04:24h, 01 August Reply

    Hi! I was blown away by this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJN2rB4h6Tg. I’ve tried everything in Santa Barbara (PT, massage, acupuncture) with no results. Please let me know if you have any idea where I can get that style of treatment. Thank you!!

    • Dr. Chris
      Posted at 17:33h, 01 August Reply

      Hi Sean, how chronic and intense is the pain? If it’s moderate, I recommend Dr. Mike McCalister at Coast Soft Tissue. If it’s very severe, I recommend Precision health Group in St Louis.

  • Julie Dobry
    Posted at 02:14h, 26 September Reply

    So many issues with my left leg, glute & hip 20+ years. I’m exhausted going to multiple HC professionals & it never gets better. My quality of life has suffered from it. Do you work with out of state patients? My sister lives in Boonton. I’m desperate to see you but not sure how it would work if it’s weekly treatments. Not possible for me. Thanks

    • Dr. Chris
      Posted at 18:08h, 28 September Reply

      So sorry to hear this Julie. We unfortunately hear this story every single day from our patients.

      Yes, we usually see a few out of state patients every week.

      Here’s our latest patient from Virginia -https://youtube.com/shorts/voiCh55F5AU?si=Mw1D6g_OjxHzMDMY

  • Monica Powell-Matthews
    Posted at 04:14h, 10 November Reply

    Hello, my name is Monica Matthews. My Ed Matthews & I are very interested in coming to see you. I have sciatica pain on my left side back hip & leg down sometimes to the ankle. And neck pain. It’s been going on religiously for 4 years now. My husband has neck, shoulder, back & knee pain. He worked in a freezer for Giant food warehouse for 13 years. He was diagnosed with arthritis. We both are 54 years old. We have done everything! Acupuncture, chiropractor, stretch practitioners, shots & massage therapists. These provide some relief but it is temporary. We live in Maryland. We don’t mind making the trip to see you, however if there needs to be regular treatments that might be hard to pull off. Do you come our way? Or recommend someone near us that use your technique? Please advise.

    • Dr. Chris
      Posted at 21:47h, 11 December Reply

      Hi Monica, so sorry to hear this. Oh wow, we have a few patients from maryland. I don’t typically go other places. It’s not legal without a license in that state. We are training docs worldwide, but we don’t currenlty have a provider in Maryland.

  • Victor webb
    Posted at 13:40h, 27 February Reply

    I’ve had two discectomy surgery’s on l4,l5 and s1 area. They now say only fix is a dual disc implant with fusion. Would this kind of thing you do be helpful or am I just screwed my lower back and left hip never stops.

    • Dr. Chris
      Posted at 15:03h, 27 February Reply

      Hi Victor, I’d definitey get checked for adhesions before doing another surgery. It’s not 100% guaranteed but I’d be very surprised if it didn’t help.

      Meet Jamie who had 2 low back surgeries.

      https://youtu.be/3ZLyzT0VYsA?si=dDYqovPT6AjFIPbe

  • Amanda Vandewalker
    Posted at 10:26h, 03 March Reply

    Hello, my name is Amanda and I have thought it was completely normal to have chronic upper back pain until I met my husband 6 years ago. I’ve tried so many different things and when we came across your videos I was very intrigued and feel like this may be my issue. Perhaps the knots keep coming back BECAUSE of the adhesions…mind BLOWN. Where have you been all these years. Please tell me where I can go in CA. I just moved from Sacramento area to the Fresno area but am willing to travel in the Northern CA area at this point. Again, I’ve been suffering for 17 of my 37 years. Please help! Thank you!!

    • Dr. Chris
      Posted at 17:22h, 05 March Reply

      Lol, you’re funny. Coast Soft Tissue, Dr. Mike McAlister, is probably the closest.

  • James Rogers
    Posted at 23:44h, 12 May Reply

    Do you know any doctors that do this type of work in Southeastern PA? I’ve been dealing with scalp pain (burning, tingling etc) since an auto accident in December 2022. Possibly Occipital Neuralgia or Allodynia according to my Neurologist / Headache specialist. All my scans come back normal. I’m also getting Botox but it doesn’t take away all of the pain.

  • Rhohema Gloster
    Posted at 17:36h, 25 May Reply

    I have suffered severely with sciatica nerve pain for over 4 yrs injections, chiropractor, PT u name it no relief can barely drive for 15 min the pain used to stay in glute area now travel down my leg I live 2 hrs away willing to travel if I’m able to afford it

    • Dr. Chris
      Posted at 22:30h, 26 May Reply

      So sorry to hear this. Sounds like you’re a great candidate but we wouldn’t know til we did a virtual consult. FYI – we aren’t cheap, but we get quite good results with our patients we accept. It’s up to you if you want to call to schedule.

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