Life Essentials begins accepting insurance

“Complementary and alternative health care is increasing,” said Christy Claybaker, who purchased Life Essentials from Denise Eldred in 2004. “In an effort to supply that demand, for people trying to take their own health and wellness into their own hands, they should be able to utilize their insurance companies like they would with normal, conventional health care.”

To file with insurance, Claybaker said patients of the Life Essentials Wellness Center must call their insurance companies to verify coverage, and they must obtain a written referral and an appropriate diagnosis code from a chiropractor or a medical doctor. Patients are required to bring their doctor’s referral, diagnosis code and insurance card so the center can make copies for their files and bill their insurance companies.

Patients also are required to make their insurance co-payments at the time of service, just as they would for other providers.

Claybaker said the center receives the majority of its referrals from chiropractors.

Dr. Brad H’Doubler, a chiropractor, said he refers patients to Life Essentials Wellness Center two to three times a month on average, mainly for massage therapy. H’Doubler said if patients aren’t responding to therapies in his office, such as heat and ultrasound, massage can provide a bit of extra edge for the affected muscles.

“Our primary service is therapeutic massage,” Claybaker said.

Claybaker said some patients are referred to her center with whiplash due to automobile accidents, but others are afflicted with fibromyalgia, a syndrome characterized by chronic pain throughout the body, in the muscles and the soft tissues surrounding joints.

Claybaker’s business partner, Michelle Porter, offers energy healing, which focuses on the body’s energy center. “She focuses on the emotional and spiritual aspect of the body,” Claybaker said, noting that the center also offers reflexology, facials and body wraps.

Life Essentials has been accepting insurance since July, Claybaker said.

American Family Insurance and Farmers Insurance are among the companies through which Claybaker has filed for insurance coverage for the centers services. Claybaker said she often works with auto insurers after an accident has happened, but she said there are some medical insurance plans that will cover her services.

Scott McCoy, district manager of American Family Insurance in the Springfield area, said American Family Insurance covers such things as massage and acupuncture as long as those giving the treatment are licensed. He added that American Family Insurance is more open to cover such therapies than in the past, most likely because of results that have been documented in favor of the procedures.

Claybaker, a 2003 graduate of the School of Massage Arts, is licensed through the state of Missouri and is a member of Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals.

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