Happy New Year! We thought we’d start 2014 with a blog post about our sliding scale. A sliding scale means that YOU determine what you can afford based on our scale. The initial appointment range is between $30 – $50 and the follow-up appointment range is between $20 – $40.
That said, you may still be wondering, “Ok, but how exactly does this whole sliding scale thing work?” That’s a good question. A sliding scale works by offering a price range that can fluctuate for each person and can even differ each time you come in for treatment. You chose a price based on the sliding scale, taking into account how many visits you need and what you can afford. What you choose to pay on the scale does NOT determine what sort of care you receive here. Everyone here receives equal, quality care. Our hope is that the sliding scale will allow you to make room in your budget for regular acupuncture treatments. It creates a window to accessible healthcare when healthcare can be a high expense for us all.
Acupuncture works best, especially for acute conditions, when it is done consistently and frequently. The sliding scale allows for patients to come in for a series of treatments over the course of a few weeks or months, which could become financially impossible if the cost was a flat rate of $75 per appointment (which is typical of a private acupuncture treatment). In addition, the sliding scale gives access to acupuncture treatments to so many more individuals in our community. Good health is important to everyone and access to such care is important to us at South Shore Community Acupuncture.
Our clinic is funded solely by our patients. We do not receive funding from outside sources such as grants or subsidies. Currently we do not bill insurance – we see our sliding scale similar to a co-pay. We also do not ask for any income verification – we rely on you to determine what you can afford for each treatment. Your financial information is your business, not ours.
We rely on our patients to pay what they can and spread the word to other people in the community. Your referrals mean the world to us here and allow our clinic to grow and thrive. Referrals also help to keep our costs low so that we don’t have to spend a lot of money on advertising and marketing. Low overhead is key to a successful and busy community acupuncture clinic – it also means that we can keep our fees affordable.
If you have any questions about our sliding scale, please feel free to ask us. We know that the concept of a sliding scale is unfamiliar to most people. We want you to be comfortable with our fee structure, and hope this provides you with affordable, quality care.