It’s the autumn equinox!
Hello and happy Autumn Equinox to you all! I hope this newsletter finds you well and thriving.
I have a few clinic updates to share that will impact many of you in the coming months. Here are the highlights to help you know if you would like to read on:
Highlights
I will stop taking insurance effective Jan 1, 2024
I will be raising my prices
I will be offering a sliding scale and package deals
A non-profit will be formed to help further reduce costs for the patient while providing equitable wages for myself and other practitioners I work with
I will be offering regular qigong classes and workshops with an Autumn Qigong series entitled “Let It Go! - A seasonal qigong series for embodied and communal liberation”
To read the details of each of these points, please continue below. If you have any questions, you are welcome to email me :)
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Insurances
Effective Jan 1 2024, I will stop taking all insurances. This is to ensure that everyone who is currently using insurance can finish out whatever benefits they have left and have a plan of action for the new year.
As many of you are well aware, insurance is not what it used to be, particularly when it comes to paying its acupuncturists. In the last 10 years, companies have been paying less and less, sometimes $25 a session. I suppose this assumes that acupuncturists are seeing 4 patients an hour, which I guess is fine though still quite deplorable. I see patients 1 on 1 for 60-75 min each time, so when that payment comes, it's downright offensive.
Also, what many of you do not know is that because I take insurance, it’s illegal for me to have a sliding scale program in effect. Which puts me in a bind. Do I continue to see patients with insurance, so that they can afford it, while turning people away who don't have insurance and can’t afford my cash rates OR do I stop taking insurance, possibly turning people away who wouldn’t otherwise be able to see me, but allow for more folks to see me with a sliding scale option?
You see the predicament? It’s troubling to me that this has to even fall on my shoulders because of the nature of our healthcare system as we know it. Ultimately, I am making this decision for the health of myself and my practice, and to hopefully be more accessible to more people, once this all shakes out.
Raising prices
Effective December 21, 2023 (the beginning of the winter solstice), I will be raising my prices. I do not do the typical acupuncture treatment where I put needles in you and leave, seeing 2-4 patients an hour. My treatments are 1 on 1 with 60-75 min of customized care, bodywork and management. They are as follows:
New patient 60 min appt- $200
Return patient 60 min appt- $150
Return patient 90 min appt- $200
Telehealth/distance healing 60 min appt- $150
Telehealth/distance healing 30 min appt- $80 (for return patients only)
Safe and Sound Protocol App- $125 for 4 months of use
Safe and Sound Protocol App- $15 a month for continued use of SSP Balance*
*does not include appt fee
Sliding scale and package deals
Starting Dec 21, 2023, I will be offering a sliding scale program. This will not be something you apply for. This will be readily available on my website and clinic room so you know what to pay at the time of each appointment. I have organized the sliding scale system around this pricing and have set three access ranges which I hope account for the many socioeconomic realities present. I thank Ryan of Gentle Point Acupuncture for the use of the language, system, and the support in making this transition.
For those who could not access care without this option-
$95-125 / Session + $25 for new patients
Low-income, precariously employed or retired, or otherwise unable to work
You earn less than $60k per year
You have no health insurance and little access to healthcare or therapy
You have little expendable income - you can't often afford to spend for pleasure, travel, or cover unexpected costs
For those who need to check their budget before booking-
$125-150 / Session +$30 for new patients
Low to middle income, stably employed or retired
You earn between $60k - 100k per year
You have health insurance or access to healthcare and therapy as needed
You have some expendable income - you can moderately spend for pleasure, afford occasional vacations, and cover most unexpected costs
For those experiencing financial security-
$200 for new patients / $150 for return patients + $10-50 if you want to contribute to the health of someone in need.*
Middle to high income, comfortably employed or retired, or not needing to work
You earn more than $100k per year
You have health insurance and access to regular healthcare and therapy
You have expendable income - you can spend for pleasure, regularly afford vacations, make large purchases, and easily cover unexpected costs
*All proceeds will go to a healthcare fund to support those who can’t afford even the lowest tier price, making it $0-$50 a session. This will include all tips given. What I provide is holistic medical support and intervention, so my rates accurately reflect the scope of my practice.
Package Deals
Package deals are great for those in the 3rd tier / those experiencing financial security and have expendable income:
Buy 9, get 1 free - $1350 (save $150) + $45 for new patients
5 pack - $700 (save $50) + $45 for new patients
3 pack - $435 (save $15) + $45 for new patients
A non-profit in the works
In the coming months, I will be unrolling an even greater subsidized option for those in extreme need. We are talking $0-$50 a session. Some of you know I have been talking about this for months, years even, but haven’t had a chance to spend much time on it. The hope was that this would be in place before insurances were done, but life just doesn’t work out that way. I will definitely keep everyone posted on its developments and if you have any hot tips, let me know.
If you would like to get put on a list that will let you know as soon as this is enacted, contact me.
If you would like to donate to one of these healthcare funds that the nonprofit will manage:
Sovereign Women Health Initiative
Sovereign Peoples Health Fund
Contact me!
All things qigong!
After the success of my first qigong class series in years, the last one ending today, I will be offering more qigong and meditation classes. This has been an indispensable tool for me over the past 13 years and it’s one of the skills I find useful in embodying my full self and feeling free.
This autumn’s qigong series will focus on using qigong and other Daoist inner cultivation techniques to do the following:
Let go of what we know longer need
Remove negative and toxic emotions, energetic patterns, spiritual myths, and physical sensations associated with all this nonsense
Education and connection of the heart/shen + kidney/zhi and Chinese Medicine’s role in connecting you to your personal destinies
Develop and practice qi gong
EMBODY
Experience inner freedom
Many of us have a history of disembodiment, disassociation and/or numbing from feeling, while also being chronically dis-regulated, disempowered, feeling resigned and hopeless about the world and/or our personal circumstances. The Dao is ever-present and limitlessly available.
With re-entry into our bodies there can be pain–the pain of feeling, the pain of emotion, the pain of experiencing life! Qigong, meditation, and other cultivation tools, with a safe space to acknowledge and unwind these patterns are amazing tools for self healing and inner transformation. They allow us to connect deeply to our bodies and our personal destinies in such a way that gives us an inner freedom that can not be shaken or taken from us. WE ARE NOT VICTIMS.
If you would like to be put on a list to know when qigong classes and workshops are available, let me know :) Or follow me on instagram / @drkirbyteuilagrey.com
And that’s it folks! Many blessings to you all on this delightful autumn equinox!
Peace,
Dr. K