Insurance Participation
We are a fee-for-service practice and patients pay at the time of service.
If your insurance policy has out-of-network benefits a portion of our charges may be covered. Before your first visit, talk to your insurance company about your out-of-network benefits and what they include, as every plan is different.
We will submit claims for reimbursement electronically to your insurance company for a $10 charge. If you would like to file yourself, we provide detailed billing forms containing all of the appropriate codes to submit to your insurance plan.
Some of our practitioners are “Non-Participating providers” with Medicare, but Dr. Kaplan, Dr. Lilienfield and our Nutritionist have “Opted-out” of Medicare. We are not accepting Medicare Advantage patients.
Why doesn’t The Kaplan Center accept my insurance?
Dr. Gary and our other physicians feel very strongly that insurance companies should not be directing patient care by setting restrictions on medical testing and treatment. Operating outside the insurance system also allows our physicians to take the time necessary to ask you how you’re doing, listen to your concerns and discuss treatment options. Operating outside the insurance system also allows our physicians to provide you with an individualized treatment plan that may include “alternative and complementary medicine” techniques that may not yet be accepted by insurance companies. Bottom line, the medical treatment you receive should be the best care possible, and it should be determined by your doctor and you; not your insurance company.
Does The Kaplan Center participate with Medicare?
1) Dr. Kaplan, Dr. Lilienfeld, and our Nutritionist have opted out of Medicare. They can treat Medicare patients only under private contracts. This means that neither the provider nor the patient can file a claim with Medicare for the provider’s services. The patient pays in full at the time of service. Patients who are covered under a secondary insurance policy (not Medigap/Supplemental coverage) may be eligible for reimbursement.
2) The Kaplan Center’s Physical Therapists are non-participating with Original Medicare. You will pay the limiting charge, as established by Medicare, for covered services and full price for any non-covered services at the time of treatment. We will submit the claim to Medicare for reimbursement, and for your Medicare reimbursement to go directly to you. If the secondary crossover is set up with Medicare, that should happen automatically. If not, you will be responsible for filing your secondary plan.
3) We are not accepting Medicare Advantage patients. Our providers are not directly contracted with any Medicare Advantage plan.
4) The Kaplan Center’s Psychotherapist, Jodi Brayton, does participate with Original Medicare. You will be responsible for paying any copay/deductible at the time of service and Kaplan will receive balance of payment for your session from CMS.
5) We have one provider who is not permitted to bill to Medicare since the specialty is not included in the ‘eligible provider’ list. This provider is our Acupuncturist Rebecca Berkson, LAc, Dip.O.M..
Does The Kaplan Center participate with Tricare?
No, we do not. Patients covered by Tricare must sign a balance-billing waiver each time they are seen. The waiver states that the patient understands we do not participate with Tricare, and he or she agrees to pay our full fee for services. We will, however, file your Tricare claims for you at no charge, so that we can indicate on the reimbursement form that you signed the waiver. Some Tricare plans pay for Kaplan Center services. If you have questions about your coverage, please contact your Tricare Service Center.
Does The Kaplan Center accept workers compensation claims?
No.
Does The Kaplan Center accept Medicaid?
No.
What should I ask my insurance company when I inquire about my out-of-network benefits?
Ask your insurance company to provide you with the answers to these 4 questions:
- “What is my out-of-network deductible?”
- “Is my out-of-network deductible separate from my in-network deductible?”
- “What is my coinsurance?”
- “What is the maximum amount of out-of-pocket expenses I will be required to pay annually?”
Does The Kaplan Center offer financing?
The Kaplan Center understands that not all patients or potential patients have the financial means to pay for medical services out of pocket. Even with out-of-network benefits and possible reimbursement for some portion of charges, financial hardship may still exist. The Kaplan Center wants to let you know there are lending companies that offer financial plans to help in such situations.
For example, M-Lend is one service that offers financing options for your healthcare expenses. M-Lend advertises that it offers low-interest rates and no interest financing to individuals with good credit. If you are interested, please visit //www.mlendfinance.com/ to explore your options, or call M-Lend at 888-474-6231. Other financing services are also available, so please let us know if we can be of assistance should you find one that meets your needs.
The Kaplan Center is not affiliated with M-Lend in any way and has no financial relationship with it (or any other lending service). This is not an endorsement of its services. Information and the link provided does not imply endorsement of M-Lend’s services and is presented by Kaplan Center without any representation, guaranty, or warranty regarding its services. As with all important financial decisions you should proceed carefully and/or consult with a financial advisor before making any decision.
On one fee slip, the doctor’s office-visit charge is $330, but on the next one, it is $385. Why is there a cost difference when it was the same kind of visit?
Our physicians bill for office-visits based on the amount of time they spend with the patient. Before the doctor enters a treatment room, he or she sets a timer. When they exit the room, they stop the timer and note the number of minutes that they spent with the patient. The fee for the services rendered by the physician is apportioned among the services that the physician provided. Please note that it is rare for a 30-minute appointment to take exactly 30 minutes. It is usually 1-5 minutes over or under. Occasionally, the visit will be significantly longer than the time scheduled when the doctor feels that more time is necessary. The provider does not waive his or her fee for this additional time.
There are exceptions to the fee-for-time guideline: Several medical procedures have pre-set fees, which are explained to patients prior to scheduling their procedure. An example would be an appointment for PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy.
My doctor has recommended PRP (platelet-rich plasma) therapy to treat arthritis in my knee. Will my insurance cover this procedure?
Most insurance carriers have their reimbursement policies posted on their websites. At the time of this writing, Aetna and Carefirst both have policies of non-coverage for PRP. We encourage you to contact your carrier and find out for sure if they cover the procedure. The CPT code for PRP is 0232T.
What is the Quarterly Physician Administrative Fee?
The Kaplan Center and medical practices across the country are facing an ever-increasing stream of administrative demands from insurance companies regarding testing, prescriptions, referrals and other important tasks involved in your health care. Rather than raising hourly fees or charging individually for these services, we have implemented a $36.00 quarterly fee, effective February 1, 2019, that will enable us to continue offering and expanding all of these services that are critical components of your health care, such as:
- Preauthorization for MRI and CT scans
- Preauthorization for prescriptions
- Prescription rejections requiring appeal either by letter or by peer-to-peer calls to physician’s phone
- Processing prescription requests
- Referrals to other physicians
- Same day callbacks by our doctors and nurses
- Patient portal access and communications
- After hours physicians on-call service
- Filling out forms and provision of routine letters (disability, school, work restrictions, etc.)
Patients of Dr. Lilienfield will be charged quarterly via credit card*. To access the form that must be filled out and kept on file, please visit: https://kaplanclinic.com/cc-auth/
*Fee is already incorporated in Dr. Kaplan’s membership practice. Dr. Kaplan’s patients will NOT be charged additionally.
Insurance Denials
Why is my office visit charge being denied as “integral to” (or bundled with) the more complex, primary procedure?
If the “-25 modifier” is attached to the “office visit” (circled, if you are filing yourself), the insurance company’s decision to deny is an adjudication error; in other words, your insurance carrier did not process this claim correctly.
How do I appeal when the office visit is bundled with another procedure?
You can usually handle this request for redetermination with a phone call to your insurance provider. Here is an example of what you could say:
“My office visit was billed with the “25-modifier” to indicate that the office visit was a distinct and separately identifiable service from the medical procedures my doctor performed on the same date (probably Acupuncture and/or Osteopathic Manipulation). My claim was inappropriately denied (or bundled) because the “25-modifier” was incorrectly disregarded. Please send this claim back for reprocessing.”
I paid The Kaplan Center to file my insurance claims for me and my claim was denied. Does my filing fee include appealing my claim?
The claim-filing fee covers the cost of having The Kaplan Center to file a “clean” claim with your insurance carrier, meaning we ensure that the claim is correctly coded. We also submit the form in the format preferred by your insurer, so that it will be processed more accurately and quickly. Claims denied for contract limitations are not the responsibility of The Kaplan Center and may not stand up to an appeal by the patient/subscriber. Claims denied in error due to poor insurance company adjudication practices also are not the responsibility of The Kaplan Center. These claims must be appealed either by a telephone request for redetermination or by written appeal. Please be sure to file your appeal within the timeframe prescribed by your insurance carrier; otherwise, you may lose your right to appeal. Please be sure to document:
- The date you called,
- The name of the person with whom you spoke,
- What was said, and
- Ask for a reference number for the call.
If you receive your insurance through your employer and you find your claims are being routinely/repeatedly denied, you should report the problem to your company’s Human Resources Department, so they can intervene on your behalf. Otherwise, you should consider finding a new insurance carrier.
I usually file my own claims, but sometimes I ask The Kaplan Center to file my claims for me. When I do, my claims seem to get paid faster, while those I file are processed more slowly and sometimes get denied. Why?
When you file a claim by mail, the processor must manually enter into the insurance company’s computer system the following information: the treating facility; the facility address; the name of the care provider; ID numbers for the patient, facility, and provider; service codes, and the corresponding diagnosis codes. In sum, there is a lot of information that must be entered, which opens the door for errors. For example, we have noticed that insurance company claim processors frequently code the diagnoses checked off on your fee slip from left to right, instead of properly connecting each diagnosis code with its corresponding treatment code. Without logical procedure code/diagnosis pairings, your claim will be automatically rejected.
On the other hand, when The Kaplan Center files your claim, we do so in your insurance carrier’s preferred format, either electronically or on the “CMS 1500 Form.” Treatment and diagnostic codes are correctly matched and ranked. These claim forms are almost always electronically “read” and automatically processed. The result is that most of the claims we process are decided and paid quickly.
I feel like my insurance company is running me ragged with denials and requests for information. I feel overwhelmed! Is there anyone who can help me?
You can make an appointment with Anitra Lane, our Billing Manager, to review your “Explanation of Benefits” (sometimes called a “Remittance Advice”) that your insurance carrier sends to you in response to each claim for reimbursement you submit. Anitra will explain your insurance company’s adjudication, advise you if your claims are being improperly denied and tell you what you can do to appeal the decision. We also can assist you in your appeal for a fee. If you decide this is your best option, we will be happy to give an estimate of the cost of this assistance. There are also patient advocates whom you can hire to help you with your insurance problems. An advocate can be particularly helpful if your situation is very complicated. Anitra can provide you with referrals for these services.
FSAs* and Nutritional Supplements
(including herbal and homeopathic remedies)
Does my medical insurance cover the cost of supplements?
No. The non-prescription nutritional supplements and medications that are available for purchase from The Kaplan Center Medical Center Store are not covered under your insurance company’s prescription plan.
Can I get reimbursed for the cost of supplements through my employer-sponsored Flexible Spending Account (FSA)?
Yes — if you have a doctor’s prescription for a supplement, it becomes a reimbursable expense under your Flexible Spending Account (FSA). When you file your claim for FSA reimbursement, remember to submit a copy of your prescription.
I used to be able to use my Flexible Spending card to purchase supplements and over-the-counter cold-care products, but now I can’t. Why?
As of January 1, 2011, patients may not use FSAs to pay for over-the-counter drugs and medicines unless the patient has a doctor’s prescription for the item. The new rule does not apply to items for medical care that are not medicines or drugs. Medical equipment, however, such as crutches, supplies such as bandages, and diagnostic devices such as blood- sugar-test kits, still qualify for reimbursement by a health FSA, Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA), if purchased after Dec. 31, 2010, regardless of whether the items are purchased using a prescription.
How can I get the supplements I purchase at The Kaplan Center to be covered by my FSA Health Reimbursement Account (HRA), Health Savings Account (HSA) or Archer Medical Savings Account (Archer MSA)?
If you want to submit the cost of your supplements to your FSA, HRA, HSA or Archer MSA, you should ask your physician for a prescription for the products he or she is recommending. Please mention your need for a prescription to your physician during your appointment, prior to purchase. Please submit a copy of your prescription with your reimbursement request.