It's Open Season For Medicare! And Acupuncture is in the picture.
Medicare's Open Enrollment period in 2023 is Oct 15 - Dec 7. This is the window of time in which beneficiaries can change their plans. More to the point, Medicare health and drug plans change their plans every year, and you need to make sure yours still fits your needs. Open Enrollment is an opportunity to evaluate your plan and switch, if you need to.
It's a good idea to get a second opinion from someone who understands Medicare. Senior Centers and community organizations have free Medicare consultants to help seniors figure out what's best for them. Insurance agents who specialize in Medicare are another good resource, and It shouldn't cost you anything either in fees or premium rates to call on one of them.
Another important thing to know is that since 2021, Medicare has limited coverage for acupuncture. Of course it's complicated. Only one diagnosis is covered - chronic low back pain. Twenty sessions are allowed, 12 within 90 days, and then 8 more dependent on authorization. Only a Licensed Acupuncturist or an MD may do the acupuncture (good news) but acupuncturists can't bill Medicare to get paid (bad news). "Wait a minute!", you say, - Whhaaat?" Yep, you heard that right - we can do the acupuncture but we can't directly bill Medicare. And it's complicated. It's so complicated that I made a YouTube video to explain it. Then I realized that it was too complicated to explain in three minutes or less, so I wrote an ebook with all the details. Enjoy!
