Does My Insurance Cover Acupuncture? Here’s How To Find Out

One of the most common questions we hear at NJ Acupuncture Center is:

“Does my insurance cover acupuncture?”

The answer is: it might! More insurance plans than ever are offering acupuncture benefits, especially for pain management, stress-related conditions, migraines, orthopedic issues, and overall wellness support. But understanding your coverage can sometimes feel confusing if you’re not familiar with insurance terminology or where to look.

The good news? You do not have to figure it out alone.

Here’s a simple guide to help you understand your acupuncture benefits and how our office can help make the process easier.

Step 1: Check Your Insurance Benefits

The fastest way to find out if acupuncture is covered is to look at your insurance policy details or call the member services number on the back of your insurance card.

When reviewing your policy, look for words or phrases like:

• Acupuncture

• Alternative medicine

• Complementary care

• Pain management benefits

• Physical medicine services

• Outpatient therapy

• Specialist visits

Some plans fully cover acupuncture, while others may cover a certain number of visits per year or require a copay.

Important Insurance Terms To Know

Insurance language can feel overwhelming, so here are a few common terms that may help:

Copay

This is the fixed amount you pay for each visit. For example, your plan may cover acupuncture with a $20 or $40 copay.

Deductible

This is the amount you may need to pay out-of-pocket before insurance begins covering services.

Coinsurance

Instead of a flat copay, some plans split costs with you after the deductible is met. For example, insurance may cover 80% while you pay 20%.

In-Network vs. Out-of-Network

Some acupuncture offices are considered “in-network” providers with certain insurance plans, while others may offer out-of-network benefits that can still reduce your costs.

Visit Limits

Certain plans only cover a set number of acupuncture visits annually.

Questions To Ask Your Insurance Company

If you call your insurance provider directly, here are helpful questions to ask:

• Does my plan include acupuncture benefits?

• Do I need a referral from my doctor?

• Is acupuncture covered for my condition?

• Are there visit limits?

• What is my copay or coinsurance?

• Have I met my deductible?

• Do I have out-of-network acupuncture benefits?

Writing down the answers can help you better understand your coverage before booking your appointment.

We Can Help You Check Your Benefits

At NJ Acupuncture Center, we know insurance can feel complicated. That’s why our team is happy to help guide you through the process.

If you’d like help verifying your benefits, you can simply:

• Call our office

• Text us a photo of your insurance card

• Reach out through our website contact form

Our team can often help determine whether your plan includes acupuncture coverage and explain what your benefits may look like before your first visit.

Don’t Let Insurance Confusion Stop You From Getting Support

Many people delay care simply because they assume acupuncture is not covered—but that’s not always the case. More employers and insurance providers are recognizing the benefits of acupuncture as part of a preventative, whole-body approach to health.

Whether you’re seeking supp

ort for pain, stress, sleep issues, migraines, burnout, hormonal changes, or overall wellness, acupuncture may be more accessible than you think.

At NJ Acupuncture Center, we’re here to help make the process simple so you can focus less on insurance stress and more on feeling better.

How Acupuncture Can Help You Through Those Short Winter Days

Daylight Savings Time was created to help early agrarian societies take better advantage of daytime and sunlight in order to produce crops and complete other work tasks more efficiently. There is lots of debate over whether our modern society needs Daylight Savings Time anymore, with many areas of the world have never utilized it, and even some states abandoning it. The days get shorter in the winter here in the US regardless, but Daylight Savings often results in busy folks barely getting outside in the daytime at all.

It can affect our health, both mental and physical. Seasonal depression is perhaps the most extreme result, but many among us feel a general malaise during the winter months, highlighted by a lack of energy and increased fatigue. Often times, are diets in the winter are more filling, which lead to feels of bloat and contribute these negative feelings.

“During the winter months, it is important to nurture and nourish our Kidney Qi; it is the time where this energy can be most easily depleted,” writes Diane Joswick, L. Ac. “Our bodies are instinctively expressing the fundamental principles of winter – rest, reflection, conservation and storage.”

During a visit for general fatigue and energy issues, an acupuncturist will likely target the kidney, as Diane writes. The kidney is a key part of the body’s regulatory ability. A healthy and optimal kidney helps increase vitality and boost energy, while also increasing the immune system which during the cold winter months is put to the test.

This winter, don’t let the short days and long periods of darkness and cold get you down. Making acupuncture part of your general wellness routine, along with proper diet and exercise, can help prepare your body to naturally stay vibrant and avoid fatigue, as well as the many negative emotions that they can cause.

We promise, you can get through this winter with your energy and vibrancy in tact. And although it feels far away, eventually the days will be long once again!

Give Shoulder Pain the Cold Shoulder With Acupuncture

The shoulder is a fascinating, complicated an important area of the body. It has an incredible range of motion and thus allows our arms to movie in many different ways and accomplish a wide variety of tasks. Everything from everyday chores to incredible athletic feats like pitching (Happy Baseball Playoffs!) and hitting a tennis ball are possible because of the little ball and joint located at the tops of our arms.

The problem with the shoulder? Because it’s so amazing and allows us to do so many different things, it is unfortunately prone to many different types of injuries and discomfort. Previously, we covered the condition known as Frozen Shoulder, and how acupuncture can help with the, well, unfreezing return the shoulder to full range of motion without pain. But there are a number of other shoulder conditions, major and minor, that acupuncture can also help with, including bursitis, rotator cuff injuries, arthritis, tendonitis, labrum injuries, and more.

It depends on the specific ailment, so it’s important to see a specialist to determine exactly what type of shoulder issue you are experiencing. However, acupuncture will be able to help in many ways, regardless of the condition, by doing a number of things. First, acupuncture helps regulate the energy in the body, clearing up blockages in the meridians that are helping cause the pain and discomfort at the point of injury. Acupuncture also increases blood flow which acts as a natural anti-inflammatory, a holistic and safe alternative to cortisone shots and prescription painkillers and other medication. And finally, acupuncture, particularly electroacupuncture, can actually help speed up the healing and repair of damaged tissues and muscles.

Whether you’re a professional baseball player or just hoping to do household chores like the laundry and grocery shopping without pain, your shoulders are of utmost importance. If you ever have an issue with them, acupuncture is here to help!

Dry Mouth or Eyes? It Could Be Sjögren's Syndrome, And Acupuncture Can Help

If you’re a woman in your forties or fifties and, for the first time, you start battling chronic dry mouth or dry eyes, you might have Sjögren’s Syndrome.

And while Sjögren’s is much more prevalent in women around that middle age, it can affect folks of any gender and age group. Anywhere from half a million to 3 million people in the United States are affected by Sjögren’s, and it’s much more serious than simply having a dry mouth and dry eyes (though those symptoms aren’t fun in their own right).

Sjögren’s is an autoimmune disorder, and is often accompanied by other immure system issues like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. The disorder is a result of our body’s immune system mistakenly attacking your own cells. The first targets are usually the glands that create our tears and our saliva, thus the first signs being dryness. However, it can also do damage to other parts of the body like the kidneys, joints, thyroid and lungs, and can cause illnesses to those areas.

Many people treat Sjögren’s with autoimmunity medication, but given that the root cause of the disorder lies within our own body’s ability to heal itself, acupuncture is the perfect treatment. And now researchers in Shanghai have conducted a study proving that acupuncture and herbs treat Sjogren’s and reverse the symptoms much more efficiently and effectively than narcotics.

Subjects who were administered acupuncture not only reported that they felt better, but the data backed it up. Blood samples showed that in the patients who received acupuncture and herbs, the proper levels of immunoglobulin and other important factors were met.

Without the need for narcotics, the serve dry mouth and eyes and further complications brought about by Sjögren’s syndrome can be reversed. If you know anyone who suffers from Sjögren’s or any other autoimmune disorders, let them know that acupuncture is here to help.