Does Neighborhood Naturopathic and Primary Care accept insurance?

Yes, the doctors at Neighborhood Naturopathic and Primary Care are considered in-network with the following insurance companies: Premera, Regence, First Choice, and LifeWise Primary or Preferred plans but NOT LifeWise Alpine. We can also bill Kaiser PPO of Washington under the First Choice Health Network.

*We strongly encourage you to call and check with your plan ahead of time to confirm that we are in-network with your specific plan. If you would like us to serve as your PCP, you should update that with your insurance when calling to confirm coverage as this can affect billing. Patients with Kaiser/First Choice should ask their plan whether they need preauthorization to receive coverage at our clinic.

What if my insurance isn’t accepted?

If the doctors at Neighborhood Naturopathic and Primary Care are out-of-network with your insurance provider (Kaiser HMO, Cigna, United, Medicaid/WA state insurance, Medicare, Aetna, etc.), then you have the option of paying on the day of your appointment and receiving a 20% discount. You will be provided with the necessary reimbursement forms to submit to your insurance company if you have out-of-network benefits.

How do I know if my insurance covers naturopathic medicine?

We strongly recommend that you call your insurance company prior to making your appointment to ensure that they cover naturopathic medicine services.

How much does an appointment cost?

Please click here to read more about services not covered by insurance and a general fee schedule and continue to the section below “Understanding Your Insurance Bill” for more details.

Do you offer any discounts?

We offer a 20% discount if you pay at the time of your appointment if we are out-of-network with your insurance company.

Do you work with patients outside of Washington state?

Dr. Taylor is licensed in WA, OR, and CA and the only physician at Neighborhood Naturopathic and Primary Care able to see clients outside of Washington. To learn more about the details of Dr. Taylor’s practice and how you can work with her visit megantaylornd.com *(insurance coverage and fees may vary)

What happens if I no show or cancel my appointment late (with less than 24 hours notice)?

In order to provide the best care possible to all of our patients and optimize the time of our providers, if you are a new patient and no show your initial visit you will be charged $200 fee. If you are an established patient and no show an appointment or cancel an appointment less than 24 hours in advance, there will be a $75 fee.

Can I cancel my appointment?

Neighborhood Naturopathic and Primary Care requires 24 hours’ notice for appointment cancellations or rescheduling. Missed appointments and appointments cancelled less than 24 hours in advance are subject to a $75 cancellation fee. If you are ill or otherwise unable to make it into the office, please call ahead so that we can get your appointment re-booked as a telemedicine visit free of charge.

Why do you charge a no show/late cancel fee? 

Our clinic charges a $75 fee for any visits where you do not show up or if cancel within 24 hours. We do this to protect our providers and patients who need to be seen more urgently, since we reserve lengthy visit times in otherwise busy schedules. Without adequate notice, we risk wasting valuable time. Adequate notice allows our providers to maximize time with our patients, and ensures smooth delivery of patient care.

Why do you require a credit card on file? 

We require a credit card on file to charge no show and late fees, as well as for other charges that come with your care, such as deductibles, co-pays, and co-insurance.

How do I know that my credit card information is secure? 

We use a secure credit card storing system associated with our electronic health record, Charm, and credit card processing system Bluefin to protect against any fraudulent activity or information leaks.

What kind of cards can I use? 

We recommend keeping a credit card and/or FSA/HSA care on file. You can include multiple cards on file and indicate your preferred card to be used at any time. However, no show and late cancellation feeds cannot be charged to an FSA/HSA account.

Will I get any warning that my card will be charged? 

Cards are charged automatically for any no show or late cancellation fees. All other charges will be sent via invoice by Charm. If not paid within 30 days, cards will be charged automatically.

What if I am concerned about a charge that was made? 

You can always call our office with any concerns about charges made to your card. We or our billing staff can explain any charges made, and any errors can be easily refunded or corrected.

I am not comfortable keeping my credit card information on file. What should I do? 

At this time, our clinic is requiring that ALL patients provide credit card information in order to be an established patient with our practice. We know that this is a change, but is necessary to protect our small business and the providers and staff we employ.

How do I add or update my credit card information on file?

We use a secure credit card storing system associated with our electronic health record, Charm. You can provide your credit card information to us when you are in clinic or you can follow the instructions here which walk you through how to add and/or update a credit card yourself.

Who do I contact if I have questions about my billing?

Please read the section below “Understanding my Insurance Bill” as this may help with some of your questions. If you still have questions, Our office manager, Irene Milsom, or our billing specialist, Jenn, are available to help you sort out any billing questions that you might have. You can reach Irene or Jenn with any questions by sending a message in ChARM (your patient portal).

If you find medical insurance billing confusing, you are not alone. Every day, our clinic receives questions from patients about their clinic bills ling, explanations of benefit (EOBs) from insurance companies, and what to expects for visit costs. We hope the below information brings some clarity to what can be a confusing (and some times frustrating topic), but know that we are always here to help you better understand your billing questions when that is needed.

Billing based on time:

Over the last several years, the CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) which sets billing policy that most private insurances follow, have been moving towards a style of coding that prioritizing billing for time spent on a patient case each day versus the previous model which focused largely on the service provided. This change to billing for time spent is a huge help to naturopathic doctors, who generally spend 2-4x as much time with their patients as conventional health care providers, much of which is spent counseling, providing dietary and lifestyle education, or coordinating their patient’s care. Activities that contribute to “total time” include, not only the face-to-face time spent with the patient that day, but any preparation for that visit, lab, imaging, or medical record review, reviewing prior patient messages/communication between visits, documentation of that visit, any referrals placed or medications ordered, and more. Additionally, more expensive/complex visit codes might be used if a case is particularly complex, required coordination with other members of a health care team (medical assistant, dietician, specialty referrals, etc), required a referral to the emergency room, etc.

Annual visits:

Annual visits or Wellness visits are typically billed as a “Preventative Care” visit, which is generally covered (once per year) at 100% off the cost by insurance companies. However, these “preventative office visits” are just that - they are ONLY meant to cover any screening for which you re due (ie, labs, blood pressure checks, mammograms or paps, etc) and do NOT cover services provided outside of this basic screening set by the USPSTF, among others, (ie, managing specific medical conditions, addressing new concerns, etc). If you hope to cover all your screening AND discuss specific health concerns, you should expect to see billing for both a “Preventative care” visit AND additional codes to cover the cost of any additional medical care outside of the “screening” scope.

Charm (patient portal) messages:

We pride ourselves on being accessible, not only with same day and same week visits available so folks can avoid urgent care, but also via messaging our EHR (electronic health record) system, Charm. We welcome your messages and are happy to respond to any requests for clarification of a treatment plan or test, when you are due to schedule follow-ups, or other straightforward matters. However, as of late 2022, we do bill for any patient initiated communication, such as messages via Charm, that results in medical care. This could include requests for a prescription or prescription refill, lab orders, or a medical opinion about a new or existing concern. Billing is based on the time to takes, including all back-and-forth communication, to address that request. You are always welcome to schedule a visit to avoid these additional charges, which may or may not be covered by your insurer. Additionally, there are times where addressing a request may not be medically appropriate to do so via messaging, and you will be encouraged to schedule a visit.

Visit costs:

Our clinic provides an updated price list here for the fees we bill insurance. For those that pay for their visit at time-of-service, because we do not accept your insurance or your elect to pay us directly because of a high deductible, we offer a 20% discount off of these insurance fees. Additionally, we can provide you with an expanded receipt, known as a superbill, that you can submit to your insurance directly for potential reimbursement at the discretion of your insurance provider. Some insurers, such as Cigna, will reimburse patients up to 80% of the cost of the visit.

You are always welcome to ask for an estimate for how much a visit will likely cost, but because providers cannot always to predict exactly how much time will be spent on your case or it’s complexity, you will often be provided with a range. If you have concerns about visit cost, or have budgetary limitations, please don’t hesitate to mention this to our staff when scheduling and your physician at the start of the visit, so that we can be mindful of this need.

There are some services for which we do NOT bill insurance, such as fees for blood draws, B12 shots, fees to fill out forms outside of a visit, etc. These can also be found on our price list here.

Have additional questions?

Please message our office manager, Irene, or our billing specialist, Jenn, via Charm for your specific questions!