Why We do Not Accept Traditional Insurance
While our practitioners have varying medical backgrounds and degrees (psychotherapist, nurse practitioner, functional medicine, nutritionist, etc.) we do not operate in a traditional insurance model. This is very common, even amongst MDs who decide to get out of the insurance model and into a cash-pay model because they want to offer a larger variety of services, including some that are holistic in nature.
If we accepted insurance it would limit what we could test and do.
For example, the standard panel of testing we provide is only $300 with our direct partnerships with various labs (not going through insurance). Doctors in an insurance model charge nearly $5,000+ for this panel alone. We often provide much more extensive testing than this panel alone. An average of $30K-60K could be expected for the tests we provide if billed to insurance. For most of these tests, insurance companies will not deem them “medically necessary” and will decline to cover them, putting these costs directly on the patient. This is even after deductibles are met.
While medical providers do provide cash-pay discounts, they are still so much higher than the cost the labs charge us directly and would still be higher than the cost of our full programs alone. In addition, to get these specialty tests from Doctors, you often need to be referred to Specialists or multiple providers that require additional medical visits to get the proper testing requisitions. Being in a cash-pay model allows us to give clients immediate access to these tests and services at very low prices.
This is also why we are educational in our approach
This allows us to perform services above and beyond what the insurance and conventional treatment models offer. It was a no-brainer for CIS to operate out of this model. All of our practitioners have done this work themselves to resolve their chronic symptoms and also trained in and switched to teaching these programs instead, because they work.
Not accepting insurance allows us to give the money directly to our practitioners
This keeps costs low for clients for their daily, weekly, and monthly support for the 6 months they are in the 10-module program as well as the lifetime support they get upon completion of the program via monthly group check-ins and unlimited email support. Without the added medical expenses they would incur otherwise, our programs usually pay for themselves within 3 to 5 years on average.
