The cost of a chiropractor may vary depending on whether the person has an insurance or not. However, in addition to taking into account the basic prices of this service, it is important to check whether or not it can be covered by an insurance and the costs that the visit would have in that case.
Depending on the location of the practitioner, the service to be provided, or the type of treatment, costs could change considerably.
It is not difficult to find a basic chiropractic treatment for a price of about 70 $, but we can also often find prices of more than 200 $. In other words, it is a variable cost that not all health insurance companies (including some private insurance companies) cover.
How much does a chiropractor cost without insurance?
As mentioned above, the cost of chiropractic care varies greatly. Some factors that will influence these prices are:
- If it is the first visit.
- The type of consultation or treatment.
- The location of the practitioner.
- Whether you are in a series of long-term care visits.
Other factors may also have an influence, but these are the main ones.
It should be taken into account that this is a specialty in which it is relatively common to have to make more than one visit when treating the illness. This means that the price of the treatment may vary even more. Many professionals offer personalized care plans in which the cost is lowered by the amount of sessions.
Depending on the treatments, we will have very different prices as well. For example:
Basic chiropractic treatments
A basic treatment at a chiropractor can cost an average of about $80. Beware, the average does not mean that you will be offered this price in all cases. A basic treatment could include, for example, a chiropractic massage or mobility exercises.
Complex chiropractic treatments
Complex treatments naturally increase the price of an uninsured appointment with a chiropractor. For example, treatments such as spinal decompression can cost over $275. In addition, these types of treatments require a high number of sessions that can range from 10 to 20 depending on the patient’s needs.
On the other hand, it must also be taken into account that, in addition to the common or well-known treatments and services, other types of therapies and treatments are increasingly applied, that have their standard costs that is not covered by any insurance.
Some of the most widespread are:
- The use of cold laser: this is a treatment that is usually intended to repair muscles and reduce inflammation in the articulations. There is a wide variety of applications for this treatment that does not have a defined price and depends a lot on the application and use of each professional.
- Ultrasound: is another fairly common form of treatment. In this case, as it is associated with rehabilitation in many muscle treatments, it is easier to quantify its cost. It can cost around $40 per session on average.
Other machines and services can also be applied such as electrical muscle stimulation which averages around $70 per session, etc.
How chiropractic services and health insurance are linked
The first thing to know is that chiropractors accept health insurance. The majority of health insurance plans may cover chiropractic services.
However, it is also important to appreciate that not all insurances accept these services and in some cases, the services will be limited. This means that the first step is to check with your insurance policy if it covers chiropractic care, and to what extent.
Generally, as with all insured medical care, we have to assume some kind of co-payment. This will also depend very much on the insurance plan we have contracted.
Almost all private insurance policies include coverage for chiropractic treatment. Therefore, the cost of using these health services is lower than when you do not have insurance.
Medicare, meanwhile, may even accept chiropractic care as part of its coverage, but in specific cases such as spinal subluxation. This requires the chiropractor’s own diagnosis (remember that a chiropractor can make his own prescribing diagnosis, no referral is needed).