Insurance Coverage

Yes, most health insurance plans sold in California do cover chiropractic care, though the amount they pay and the number of visits allowed will differ by plan. California Insurance Code Section 10176 requires that many group health policies offering physician services include chiropractic coverage when delivered by a licensed chiropractor, though plan-specific exclusions may apply. That means if your employer-sponsored plan covers doctor visits, it almost certainly includes chiropractic benefits. In practice, coverage usually works one of two ways. With a **copay model**, you pay a fixed dollar amount per visit after meeting your deductible. With a **coinsurance model**, your plan pays a percentage and you pay the rest once your deductible is met. Most plans also cap the number of covered chiropractic visits per year, though medical necessity documentation can sometimes unlock additional visits. At Valley Chiropractic, we accept most insurance plans. Insurance benefits are verified before your first appointment so you know your copay, deductible status, and visit limits in advance. We work across our [Tracy](/locations/tracy), [Mountain House](/locations/mountain-house), [Manteca](/locations/manteca), and [Ripon](/locations/ripon) locations. If you want private-pay rates instead, see our [pricing FAQ](/faq/pricing) for our standard amounts. Patients without insurance or with high deductibles often find private pay simpler than running a small claim. The bottom line: call your insurer or call us and we'll verify your benefits before your first visit. Our front desk team handles benefit lookups every day and can give you a realistic cost estimate before you ever lie down on the table. We see patients for [chiropractic care](/services/chiropractic-care) for everything from low-back pain to headaches, and we want cost to be one less thing you worry about.

Medicare does cover chiropractic care, but only in a very specific situation. Medicare Part B pays for spinal manipulation when it is medically necessary to correct a subluxation of the spine. That is the only chiropractic service Medicare currently reimburses. Services like massage, X-rays taken by a chiropractor, and any other diagnostic or treatment procedures are not covered under traditional Medicare, even if performed in our office. After you meet your Part B deductible, Medicare pays 80 percent of the Medicare-approved amount for covered spinal manipulation, and you are responsible for the remaining 20 percent. If you have a Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plan, that secondary policy may pick up some or all of that 20 percent coinsurance, depending on the plan letter you carry. Most Medicare plans are accepted at Valley Chiropractic. Medicare Advantage plans (Part C) sometimes offer broader chiropractic benefits than traditional Medicare, including coverage for additional services and more annual visits. If you are enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan, it is worth calling the member services number on your card to ask specifically about chiropractic benefits. We treat a significant number of Medicare-age patients at our [Tracy office](/locations/tracy), many of whom come in for [lower back pain](/pain/lower-back), [sciatica](/services/sciatica), and [disc conditions](/services/disc-conditions). These are exactly the kinds of medically necessary complaints that Medicare is designed to cover under its spinal manipulation benefit. The American Chiropractic Association has pushed for years to expand Medicare chiropractic coverage, and legislation has been introduced in Congress to broaden it. For now, the medically necessary spinal manipulation rule is the standard. We will always tell you upfront what Medicare will and will not pay for so you can make an informed decision about your care.

Our private-pay rates are straightforward and the same across all four offices. The new patient exam is $75. A standard follow-up adjustment is $50 ($40 for minor patients). Massage therapy is $85 for a 60-minute session and $120 for a 90-minute session. We accept HSA and FSA cards for all of these services. Those amounts are usually less than people expect for hands-on healthcare, especially compared to urgent care copays, specialist visits, and the imaging that often gets ordered downstream of a primary care complaint about back pain. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (part of the NIH) notes that chiropractic and spinal manipulation are among the most commonly used complementary health approaches in the United States, in part because they offer a cost-effective option for musculoskeletal conditions ([source: NCCIH, NIH](https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/spinal-manipulation-what-you-need-to-know)). Some services we offer are often not well covered even by insurance, including [prenatal chiropractic](/services/prenatal-chiropractic) care, [pediatric chiropractic](/services/pediatric-chiropractic) adjustments, and certain [extremity care](/services/extremity-care) treatments. For these services, many patients pay privately regardless of their coverage status. For full pricing details including how visits are billed and what HSA/FSA cards cover, see our [pricing FAQ](/faq/pricing). If you are uninsured and managing a condition like [sciatica](/services/sciatica), [lower back pain](/pain/lower-back), or tension headaches, please do not let cost be a barrier. Call the [Tracy office](/locations/tracy) directly and ask to speak with our billing coordinator. We are here to help you get better, whatever your insurance situation looks like.

Yes, chiropractic care after a car accident is typically covered, and in California the coverage pathway is a little different from your regular health insurance. After an auto accident, the primary payer is usually auto insurance, either the at-fault driver's liability policy or your own MedPay (Medical Payments) coverage. Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is not mandatory in California, but MedPay is available as an add-on and directly pays medical bills regardless of fault. **Auto accident cases at Valley Chiropractic are treated on a lien with attorney involvement, third party, and MedPay. Please contact the office directly to book these cases.** This lets us coordinate documentation, billing, and timing with your attorney and the insurer involved before you start care. Here is how the payment paths typically work in practice: - **MedPay:** Pays your chiropractic bills directly up to your coverage limit, usually $1,000 to $5,000. No waiting, no fault determination needed. - **Third-party liability:** The at-fault driver's insurance is responsible for your medical bills, but payment often comes after a settlement, which can take months. Many patients treat on a lien arrangement in the meantime. - **Health insurance:** If auto coverage is exhausted or disputed, your health insurance may become the secondary payer for accident-related chiropractic care. Tracy sits along I-205 and Highway 580, two of the busiest corridors in the Central Valley. We see a steady stream of accident patients from Tracy, Mountain House, and along the Altamont Pass commute corridor. Whiplash, neck pain, and upper back strain are the most common injuries we treat after collisions. If you have been in an accident, the first 72 hours matter a lot for documentation and outcomes. Read more in our [auto accident chiropractor guide](/blog/auto-accident-chiropractor-manteca-first-72-hours). Our [auto accident injury](/services/auto-accident-injury) and [whiplash treatment](/services/whiplash-treatment) pages explain what to expect clinically. Our [personal injury](/services/personal-injury) page covers the billing and lien process in more detail. We work with attorneys and insurance adjusters regularly, and we make sure your records are thorough enough to support your claim. Do not wait to be seen. Delays in treatment can hurt both your recovery and your case. Call any of our four San Joaquin Valley offices and we will get you in quickly.

Yes, but with one important step before booking. **Workers' compensation cases are accepted with prior authorization. Please contact the office directly to verify eligibility before booking.** California's workers' compensation system requires that chiropractic care be authorized by the claims administrator, and the documentation requirements are stricter than for regular health insurance. In California, injured workers can receive chiropractic care under workers' compensation when the treatment is part of an approved treatment plan and the chiropractor is on the employer's Medical Provider Network (MPN), or when treatment is authorized outside the MPN. The law currently limits workers' comp chiropractic care to 24 visits for the same injury, with exceptions sometimes granted for ongoing post-surgical care. Dr. Tim Coykendall at our Tracy office is a California Qualified Medical Evaluator (QME) for workers' compensation cases, which means he can perform the formal medical-legal evaluations the system requires in addition to treating routine MSK injuries. That makes Valley Chiropractic familiar with the documentation, billing, and reporting required for these claims. When you call the office to start a workers' comp claim, we'll need: - The claim number and date of injury - Your employer's insurance carrier (or claims administrator) name and contact information - Authorization documentation if you already have one - Your QME or treating-physician designation if applicable We can help track down some of this information on your behalf, but the system moves faster when patients bring it to the first call. Once authorization is verified, scheduling works the same as any other appointment.

Absolutely. Having insurance is not a requirement to receive care at Valley Chiropractic. We offer straightforward private-pay rates for patients without insurance. Our standard private-pay rates are: new patient exam $75, standard follow-up adjustment $50 ($40 for minor patients), massage therapy $85 for 60 minutes or $120 for 90 minutes. HSA and FSA cards are accepted for all of these services. Those amounts are typically less than a single urgent care visit and far less than an ER copay, and you are getting hands-on treatment rather than just a prescription. For patients without coverage, we recommend starting with one new patient visit. After the exam, we'll lay out a recommended care plan, the number of visits we think you need, and the total cost in writing. No surprises and no contracts. If you are uninsured and managing a condition like [sciatica](/services/sciatica), [lower back pain](/pain/lower-back), or tension headaches, please do not let cost be a barrier to calling us. Visit our [pricing FAQ](/faq/pricing) for a complete list of our private-pay rates, or call the [Tracy office](/locations/tracy) directly and ask to speak with our billing coordinator. We are here to help you get better, whatever your insurance situation looks like.