If you have been meaning to come in for that nagging shoulder, back, or neck, November is a good time to check one thing: where your health plan stands for the year.

Every plan is different, and only your plan can tell you your exact benefits. But many plans follow the same calendar — and a few minutes of checking now can keep you from leaving something on the table in December.

Key takeaways
  • Many plans reset on January 1: deductibles and yearly visit counts often start over. Check whether yours does.
  • If you have already met your deductible, your cost for the rest of this year may be lower than right after the reset.
  • Have a health FSA? Acupuncture is generally an eligible expense, and many FSAs are use-it-or-lose-it.
  • Changing Medicare Advantage plans for next year? Check the new plan’s acupuncture benefit before enrollment closes December 7.
  • December appointments tend to fill early. Nothing here is a promise of coverage — please check your plan.

01Why year-end matters

Three parts of many health plans run on the calendar year:

  • Deductible — what you pay before your plan starts sharing the cost. If you have had care this year, you may have met it already.
  • Out-of-pocket maximum — the most you pay in a plan year for covered care. If you have reached it, covered care may cost you little or nothing until the reset.
  • Yearly visit allowance — some plans include a set number of acupuncture visits per year. Unused visits generally do not carry over.

Whether any of these applies to you depends entirely on your plan. Some plans reset on a different date, some have no visit cap, and some do not include acupuncture at all. That is why this article keeps coming back to one step: check your plan.

02Your 5-minute checklist

Call the member services number on the back of your insurance card, or log in to your plan’s website or app. Ask:

  1. Does my plan include acupuncture?
  2. How many visits do I get per year, and how many have I used?
  3. Have I met my deductible? How close am I to my out-of-pocket maximum?
  4. What is my copay or coinsurance for an acupuncture visit?
  5. Do I need a referral or prior approval?
  6. When does my plan year reset?
Checklist card with six questions to ask your insurance plan about acupuncture benefits
Save or screenshot this card for your call.

Prefer not to call? Ask us. Call the clinic at (714) 714-6632 and we can help check your eligibility before your visit. We work with many plans, including those that use American Specialty Health (ASH) for acupuncture. With some plans, the provider sends progress updates to the plan as care continues — if yours works that way, we handle that paperwork. What we find comes from your plan’s information, and your plan makes the final decision, so please treat it as a check, not a promise.

03Two more year-end checks

Flexible spending account (FSA) or HSA. Acupuncture is generally an eligible medical expense for health FSAs and HSAs. HSA money rolls over from year to year. Many FSAs, though, are use-it-or-lose-it: money left at the end of the plan year may be forfeited. Some employers offer a short grace period or let a limited amount carry over, so check your deadline with your plan administrator. If you pay for visits yourself, ask us for an itemized receipt for reimbursement.

Medicare Advantage. Many Medicare Advantage plans include some acupuncture benefits, and they vary widely from plan to plan. Medicare’s Annual Enrollment Period runs October 15 to December 7. If you are switching plans for next year, check whether the new plan includes acupuncture — and whether your acupuncturist is in its network — before you enroll, not after.

04Book early if a visit fits your plan

December tends to be one of our busiest months. Patients finishing a course of care, patients using visits their plan still allows, and patients with holiday-season aches all land in the same few weeks. If your check tells you a year-end visit makes sense, booking in November gives you the widest choice of times.

If your plan resets on January 1, that is not a reason to skip care in the new year — it is simply a new cycle. When you come in January, we can check your refreshed benefits with you and plan from there.

Injured at work or in a car accident? Those claims follow their own rules, not the calendar year. Call us and we can walk you through how workers’ comp and auto injury care works here.

The bottom line

Check your deductible, your remaining visits, your reset date, and your FSA balance. If you are changing Medicare Advantage plans, check the new plan’s acupuncture benefit before December 7. Then book early if a visit fits. Five minutes with the number on the back of your card — or one call to us — tells you where you stand.

Not sure what your plan includes?

Call us and we can help you check your acupuncture benefits before your visit — or book online.

Book Online Call (714) 714-6632

New here? Start with your first visit and our online intake form. Most insurance plans accepted — how insurance works here.
3816 Woodruff Ave, Suite 205, Long Beach, CA 90808 · Mon–Fri 9 AM–7 PM