Day 5 of 100 consecutive days of writing for publishing is now day/week 1 of "Friday Favorite". I've been thinking for some time that I would like to regularly write about products or businesses that I particularly like. I'm finally doing it.
Today's Friday Favorite is Chad Rohlfsen of The Spinal Tuning Chiropractic Center. Ironically, this Friday Favorite isn't open on Friday, and I chose a medical practice that doesn't accept medical insurance.
I love supporting businesses who go against the norm because they believe their way is better. That's exactly what Chad does with his membership practice. Since (as far as I know) he's the only chiropractor in the state who uses this business model, he definitely goes against the norm.
If you're not familiar with the membership practice model, as Chad explains it on his website, he "provide[s] unlimited care for a low flat rate monthly fee". Unlike most chiropractors, he doesn't take insurance. The fee I pay him comes 100% out of my pocket (not literally--actually it's deducted automatically from our family bank account).
So why does an Insurance Nerd recommend someone who doesn't accept insurance? Three main reasons are that (1) what he does is in line with why I entered the health insurance business to begin with, (2) it fits what insurance is supposed to be, and (3) it works.
One of the biggest reasons I got into health insurance was that I saw what my mom went through battling cancer, and wanted to do what I could to make it so that people facing health issues could concentrate on their treatment instead of having to weigh treatment options against the monetary cost. The membership practice removes that stress. Because I pay the same no matter how much or how little I see the doctor, I simply have to consider whether or not I want to go, not how much it's going to cost. I love that. There have been a lot of times that I dropped in on him simply because I was driving by, thought, "Well, it won't hurt and it won't cost me anything". And I walked out knowing it that I needed to stop.
The membership practice fits the insurance concept that insurance is supposed to be to prevent a catastrophic event from becoming a financial catastrophe. It's not intended to cover small expenses like basic maintenance, which is exactly what I view regular chiropractic adjustments to be.
Getting regular adjustments from Dr. Chad works. When I first started going to him, I was using a lift in one of my cycling shoes because I had been told that one leg was longer than the other. However, his initial assessment was that it wasn't a leg length discrepancy, but rather my lower back and hips were out of alignment, I'm guessing from an old hip injury from getting hit by a drunk driver. Now I no longer have to use the shoe insert. I have also found that I recover much more quickly from hard workouts and races, and I'm rarely sick. That's worth a lot more than I pay for my membership.
Bonus benefit of membership: with no paperwork to fill out, I am in and out of the office in less than five minutes, even if I spend time talking about business, horses, Freemasonry, or health.
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