Frequently Asked Questions in Ankeny IA

Spinal x-rays cost $150*

*Exam cost $75 - an exam is scheduled with a spinal x-ray to give us more information about your current health and the progress we are making. It includes checking your blood pressure, range of motion, current symptoms, healing goals, and more.

Cervical x-rays (neck in motion) cost $150

Lumbar x-rays (low back in motion) cost $150

All other extremities (feet, knees, shoulders, elbows, hands) cost $100

There is a Wellness plan that allows you to receive spinal x-rays and exams complimentary with consistent care (1 set free with 24 visits and 2 sets free with 48 visits in a 12-month period)

Platinum package - spinal x-ray, exam, feet, knees, shoulders - cost $425

This is essentially giving you one of the extremity x-rays for free.

Medicare has very strict rules when it comes to what they will cover when it comes to chiropractic care.

They see chiropractic care as a way to fix a specific problem and not so much of a long-term way to improve existing conditions and prevent other problems from developing.

They do not cover routine or maintenance visits, there has to be some kind of situation that makes it an acute instance.

Some examples of what they would consider an acute situation would be a fall, injury, or sudden onset of symptoms (like if you woke up and couldn't move your neck.)

Medicare covers 6 - 8 visits in the case of an acute situation.
In the event that such an incident has occurred, our doctors will have you fill out paperwork at the beginning and end of these "acute care visits."

There may also be additional x-rays or exams scheduled around the beginning and end of these visits to determine the severity of the injury and the amount of improvement that is received.

Medicare does not cover any x-rays or exams.

We are an out-of-network provider, and while we do submit claims to Medicare, this may be the reason some have expressed experiencing more coverage at another provider.

Claims are sent in every 2 weeks.

We cannot send claims for Medicare Advantage Plans, only traditional Medicare.

If you have a secondary policy, Medicare will forward the claims on to the secondary carrier.

Occasionally a secondary insurance will cover part of the cost of care, but there is no guarantee. Many plans will not pay if Medicare does not, which is the case will all our chiropractic visits unless it is an acute case.

If someone is in a car accident, we can begin a Personal Injury (PI) Case. This allows us to bill the car insurance carrier for services that are required to help you recover from the effects of the accident.

Each PI case begins with x-rays (spinal x-ray, exam, cervical, and any additional x-rays that are needed based on the accident) and x-rays are re-taken on a regular basis throughout the length of the PI Case.

We will need paperwork completed with details about the accident and the insurance carrier information (company, claim #, and phone #).

Claims will be sent into the insurance company every 2 weeks.

If you choose to use your own car insurance (Med Pay), we will bill them directly, and receive payment from them for your care. You will not have to pay anything unless the cost of your care goes over the coverage limit set by your insurance company.

If you choose to use the other driver's insurance (Third Party), we will require payment from you up front. We have found that Third Party insurance companies are not as consistent in paying for care as a Med Pay situation.

Often, they may choose to wait until the case is closed to pay for care. This doesn't work well as the balance gets higher and higher, with no guarantee of what will be covered when all is said and done.

If the insurance company begins paying throughout the case, we can stop taking payments from you.

If the insurance company ends up paying for the full cost of care, any payments that you made during the case will go back to you.

If you are using Third Party insurance and cannot afford to pay the full cost of your care at the time of service, we are willing to set up a payment plan with you.

When a PI Case is closed, we will work with the insurance company to ensure that they have everything needed to reimburse for your care. If there are any services that they refuse to cover, the patient will be responsible for those.
Sometimes insurance companies send reimbursement checks to the patient, instead of to the office. In that event, it is your responsibility to ensure any balances on your account are paid with these funds.

Our reduced fees program is a way for us to make services more affordable for anyone who qualifies for Medicaid.

You will need to provide a copy of your Medicaid card and sign a Reduced Fees contract for each calendar year.

This gives you 50% off all chiropractic adjustments, x-rays, and exams.

This does not apply to Spine Strong appointments, Nutrition appointments, or supplements or products purchased.

Our clinic is a cash-based clinic and is considered "out-of-network" with insurance companies. There are so many different insurance companies and their coverages for chiropractic care vary greatly. We found that we can keep the cost of our adjustments lower, if we are not needing to staff the number of hours that would be required to keep up-to-date with all the different insurance companies and submit claims for all of our patients.

Depending on the insurance coverage that you have and how your company works, you may be able to get some reimbursement for your care. May of our patients submit their own claims. Some receive reimbursement, some get credit toward their deductible, and others do not receive any compensation. It all depends on how your insurance views chiropractic care and what benefits they offer for out-of-network providers.

If you are interested in submitting your own claims, you will need some detailed information about your appointments.
Our receipts that we print have more details than a traditional receipt would to hopefully give you the information needed (The name, address and phone number of the clinic, Tax ID, Provider's NPI, ICD codes, and charge codes are all included.)

If you contact your insurance company, they should be able to let you know exactly what they need you to submit. Many insurance companies have a form, that you can copy and reuse. (We already have a form from Wellmark BCBS that you can request from the front desk. It already has our chiropractor's signature.)

If you find that the insurance company is needing additional information from you in order to process your claims, please feel free to reach out to our billing specialist and she will be happy to advise you or provide additional paperwork they might be requesting from you.

Billing Specialist - Sarah Harsha, direct line (515) 612-6462