The following is intended to help you anticipate the financial and insurance aspect of your care. Our staff can answer your specific questions and please feel free to contact us.

We are sensitive to the high cost of medical care in these times and try to give you the best value and quality of service for your time at Meridian. But because of our individualized approach to patient care as well as the alternative nature of our services, we are "Fee-For-Service" and generally considered "Out-of-Network" with respect to our professional fees and as such we do not accept managed care plans nor insurance assignments as payment. Payment due at the time of service is payable in cash, check or with major credit cards.

Dr. Chang's fee is based on time and effort and will be $875 per hour or $450 per half-hour for first visit as of 2012. Subsequent follow-up visit are $275-450 for 15-30 minutes, with a $275 minimum. A one-time review of records is $600. Phone and email consultations will be available for registered patients who have been seen or had their case reviewed, and the charge be pro-rated based on time at $600 per hour. Video-conference will be charged as in-office visits.

Most non-HMO insurances usually reimburse a major portion of your visit depending on your deductible and co-insurance on the plan. We will complete a universal HCFA-1500 insurance form for you at the time of visit and you will then file it with your insurance and the payment check should come back to you. Dr. Chang does not participate in Medicare or any insurance plans . For specific questions on coverage, please check with the administrator of your insurance plan.

Our doctors do not currently accept Medicare.  If you are a Medicare patient and would like to see our doctors, you will need to identify yourself as a Medicare patient and sign an acknowledgement that you realize that our doctors are not participating in Medicare.   If you are a Medicare patient with a supplemental or secondary insurance and would like to attempt to be reimbursed for the visit with our doctors, you will first need to get the 1490 Medicare Denial claim form from a social security office or from Medicare's website. After your visit with our doctors, please remember to ask us for the 1500 HCFA form as well as an Meridian invoice (which includes diagnosis codes) and then submit copies of all to Medicare. Once you receive an automatic denial letter from Medicare (since our doctors are not participating), you would then submit the 1500 HCFA to your supplemental or secondary insurance to try to get the insurance for you.

Mail and phone/videophone (Skype) consultations as well as e-consultations (N.B. This is generally not covered by insurance currently) with Drs. Chang or Phuntsok or other Meridian practitioners are generally not considered reimbursable by insurances and no HCFA-1500 claim form will be provided. For those out-of-State of international patients who require email or phone follow-up, we have specific retainer plans that may fit your pattern of need as well as minimize your out-of-pocket costs for care. These fees are also not generally covered by health insurances. If interested, download phone, videophone or e-consult registration for terms and charges, or call or email for more info.

For Acupuncture or Traditional Chinese Medicine consultation with Dr. Chen, the fee is $150 for the first visit and $90 for subsequent visits beginning in year 2003. Some insurance plans cover acupuncture if it is done for an acceptable condition - you should check with your health plan regarding the specifics of coverage.

Billing for laboratory testing is done by the respective labs. Meridian uses Quest, Bioreference and Impath laboratories and you may feel free to request to do your laboratory testing via your in-network physician or use other arrangements and locations more convenient to you to minimize your out-of-pocket costs.

For Tibetan medicine consultation, there is a consultation fee of no more than $100 to support the Tibetan Medicine Program of the Institute of East West Medicine. There is no insurance coverage for this and no insurance forms will be provided.

For herbs, Tibetan medicines and vitamins/supplements, there is generally no insurance coverage, and no insurance forms will be provided.