We decrease our fees significantly by removing the middlemen (insurance). This makes it possible for patients to have access to rheumatologic care affordably without having to jump through multiple hoops to get insurance’s permission and referral process, and enables us to provide excellent care for multiple medical problems without rush in each extended and relaxed visit. This way, patients can have sufficient time to get comprehensive and high-quality care by a board-certified rheumatologist at an affordable price. This is the reason why we do not take any insurances including commercial plans and Medicare/Medicaid. You can still use your insurance for any other services your insurance covers such as laboratory tests, imaging tests, medicines, physical therapy etc.

For a la carte services (initial consultation fee, fee-for-service follow up or procedures), if your commercial insurance offers out-of-network reimbursement, you may seek to get the coverage from your insurance by submitting the bill to them. Reimbursify is an app to make this process simple. Whether or not your insurance reimburses you is completely up to your insurance policy contract and we cannot guarantee that your insurance company will reimburse you.

By Medicare law, Medicare patients cannot seek reimbursement from Medicare for services offered by out-of-network provides.

You can use your insurance for any other medical needs such as laboratory tests, imaging tests, medications, physical therapy etc. You can compare which is cheaper for you between using insurance or paying cash for such tests according to your situation. For example, people who have high-deductible plans who did not meet the deductible yet may save a lot of money by utilizing our deeply discounted prices for laboratory tests, because our negotiated laboratory price is about 80~90% cheaper than prices you have to pay by using insurance. You can compare insurance vs a cash payment and pick and choose which one is better for you, rather than having to be stuck with paying higher prices when using your insurance.

For most rheumatology patients, 5 visits per year is sufficient to manage the condition. However, for rare occasions where you need to see Dr Lee more than 5 times per year, you can be seen at a deeply discounted price of $125 per visit, which is much cheaper than a visit to an urgent care and being seen by a provider who does not know your medical history.

As a member, you will have guaranteed access to Dr Lee’s personal care and will be given year-around access to direct communication through our web portal, phone and even text messaging. Members will be given a member-exclusive number for easy and prompt communication. You can directly communicate with Dr Lee and our staff through this number for things like refill requests or questions about prior authorization of your medicines. Members will also be given deep discounts for procedures and other additional services. Members will also receive a monthly newsletter that contains useful information for rheumatology patients.  

Medicare and Medicaid patients can become a member but cannot seek reimbursement from Medicare or Medicaid for our service, because Dr Lee is not participating in insurances including Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare and Medicaid patients still can use Medicare/Medicaid benefits for other services such as laboratory/imaging tests, medications, physical therapy etc. without problems.  

For new patients, you will be able to be seen within 1~2 weeks and you don’t have to wait for referrals or prior authorizations from your insurance company. Members will be able to be seen on the same day or the next business day for follow-ups.

If Dr Lee determines that your rheumatology condition can be managed by being seen only once or twice a year, you can opt to be seen for an a la carte service (see the Pricing tab for prices for a la carte service). This is a fee-for-service for each visit and the member’s perks are not available (e.g. year-around access to direct communication to Dr Lee, same or next-day visits, discounted procedures and other services, refills between visits, monthly e-newsletter etc.) Alternatively, you can also opt to become a member to get access to all the member benefits and use the visits for medical issues other than rheumatology conditions (e.g. weight loss consultation, lifestyle medicine consultation, any other internal medicine or general dermatology issues).

If you have never seen by Dr Lee before, you must be seen by Dr Lee for an initial consultation. If the initial evaluation shows that you have a rheumatologic condition, you will be given an option to become a member.  

Dr Lee will do a through and comprehensive evaluation to find out if you have a rheumatologic condition. According to your symptoms, complexity and numbers of tests you need, initial evaluation may take one or two visits. For very complicated cases, it may take three visits to get accurate information. Even if the initial evaluation shows that you do not have a rheumatologic disease, you will still be given a diagnosis or possible diagnoses and will be guided in the right direction as to what the best next steps should be. Because Dr Lee spends sufficient time with you in each visit and has broad knowledge and experience in multiple specialties and performs thorough and comprehensive evaluation, she can see the bigger picture and guide you to the right direction and you do not have to feel lost and confused despite seeing multiple doctors and spending a lot of time and money.

You can use FSA without any problems. For HSA, most HSA allows patients to use their funds to pay for medical services, however, please ask your HSA provider if you can use it to pay for our services.