Patient Education Flyers to Help Your Patients Push Back on Insurance Barriers
As chiropractic physicians, you see the consequences of insurance barriers every day. Patients arrive frustrated about high copays, delayed approvals, or confusing benefit limits that prevent them from being reimbursed for the care you recommend. These conversations can be difficult, especially when patients believe their insurance should be covering their care.
To help support those conversations, the Illinois Chiropractic Society (ICS), in collaboration with the Chiropractic Future Strategic Plan, is providing a series of patient education flyers your office can download, print, and share with patients. These materials clearly explain several insurance practices that commonly interfere with timely, affordable chiropractic care and give patients practical ways to question those policies.
Advertisement
Used in the exam room, at the front desk, or in your waiting area, these flyers can help patients better understand why their coverage may not be working the way they expected and what they can do about it.
A Simple Tool for Powerful Patient Conversations
Insurance policies are often confusing for patients, particularly when coverage appears to exist, but real limitations still prevent them from receiving the care they need. These flyers translate complicated insurance rules into language patients can easily understand.
Each flyer includes:
- A short explanation of the insurance policy or payment practice
- Three ways the issue may impact their care
- Three practical steps patients can take
- Talking points they can use with employers, HR departments, or insurance carriers
These resources make it easier for chiropractic physicians and staff to explain coverage problems while empowering patients to ask informed questions about their benefits.
Patient Flyers Your Office Can Use
The current series highlights four insurance practices that commonly interfere with chiropractic care:
When Your Care Gets Manipulated (Cross-Code Bundling) – New Flyer
This newly released flyer explains “cross-code bundling,” a practice where insurers combine separate services such as examinations, therapies, or other procedures into the same payment category as a chiropractic adjustment. When this occurs, insurers effectively pay for multiple services as if they were only one service. The practice of cross-code bundling can force providers to divide care across additional visits in order to provide necessary services and meet the standard of care for patients, increasing both copays and delays in recovery.
Some insurance plans advertise chiropractic coverage but set copays that exceed the actual cost of treatment. In these situations, patients may end up paying more through their copay than the insurance company contributes to the visit, creating what many experience as “phantom coverage.” The flyer helps patients review their benefits, request itemized bills, and question whether their plan truly provides value.
How Insurance Payment Models Impact Care (Per Diem and Fixed Payments)
Many insurers use fixed payment structures such as per diem, bundled, or global rate systems. These models pay a fixed minimal amount per visit regardless of how much care is delivered, which can limit what can reasonably be provided during a single appointment. As a result, treatment may need to be spread across additional visits, increasing copays and extending recovery time.
Don’t Let Prior Authorization Delay Your Care
Some health plans require prior authorization before chiropractic treatment can begin. While intended to control costs, this process often delays care and may result in fewer approved visits than your physician recommends. The flyer helps patients understand why these delays occur and encourages them to stay proactive with their insurer.
How Your Office Can Use These Flyers
ICS encourages chiropractic physicians and their teams to actively use these materials in their practices. Consider:
- Providing them to patients who are experiencing coverage challenges
- Keeping copies available in waiting rooms or consultation areas
- Using them during financial discussions to explain insurance limitations
When patients better understand how insurance policies affect their care, they are more prepared to ask informed questions and advocate for meaningful coverage improvements.
These flyers are available to ICS members at no cost through our partnership with the Chiropractic Future Strategic Plan. Download them, share them with patients, and help bring greater transparency to the insurance policies affecting chiropractic care.
