Health Insurance

Accepted Insurance Plans (subject to change)

In addition to offering excellent self-pay rates for our medical services we are PPO Providers for the medical insurance carriers listed below. If you do not see your carrier on our list please call us at (310) 836-2225 to verify your benefits for services in our office.

Note that we are accepting a limited number of new patients with Medicare.  We do not accept HMO insurance plans.  As of Jan 1, 2021, we are out of network with Anthem Blue Cross.  As of June 1, 2022, we are out of network with Blue Shield.

Our preferred plans are currently Cigna PPO,  Aetna PPO, and United Healthcare PPO.

Certain exceptions are made for TMS (Tension Myoneural Syndrome)/PPD consultations and for patients who pay an additional annual fee for non-covered services. (aka Administrative Fee or VIP fee)

If Blue Cross/Shield is your secondary carrier with Medicare as primary, our being out of network does NOT affect you.

Conditional Insurance Carrier Acceptance

• Blue Cross or Blue Shield PPO plan– Out of network.  This means that you pay at the time of service a self-pay fee and you will be given a form to submit to your insurance for possible out of network benefits.
• CIGNA Open Access
  • Not accepted if part of the Local Plus Plan
• CIGNA PPO
  • Not accepted if part of the Local Plus Plan
• Personal Injury
  • Extremely rarely
• Worker’s Compensation
  • No Longer accepting new patients with this insurance

Self-Pay Options

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Patients worry, rightfully so, if they have “lost” health insurance.  We try to remind them that office visits with Dr. Schechter are surprisingly affordable.  Even if you have to pay out of pocket for a physical (about $280) and 3 office visits (each $135-$180 for an established patient) a year, plus some lab work, you will typically spend under $750 for the entire year.  So why do you need health insurance, with premiums often $300 to $1000 per month, or more!?  Hospitalizations and surgery are expensive and this is the great benefit of having health insurance.  Office visits for family medicine and sports medicine care in our office are far more reasonable and are often paid out of pocket by individuals with HMO plans or other limitations in coverage.

                                                                                                           VIP Options

 It seems to be getting increasingly difficult to find a primary care physician in West Los Angeles, Culver City, Marina Del Rey, Santa Monica, etc.   Many are not accepting new patients and for others it can take months to make an appointment.   Some practices have gone concierge with annual fees of $2500, $5000 or more per year!

To become a priority patient of this practice, patients choose the VIP program.    In the event that this practice becomes full, VIP patients will still be afforded the highest levels of service.

The VIP annual fee begins at $500 for individuals ($1000 for couples). The couple fee now includes one adolescent or young adult child (26 or under). Some individuals, with mutual consent, are charged more due to specific needs, high frequency of phone calls/emails, etc.   The average VIP patient pays about $750 per year with some at $1000 or more.

• You may enter the program any time during the year, for a twelve month period. renewal is up to you each 12 months. The full year’s fee is typically paid up front.
• The VIP fee is for certain “non-covered” services; your PPO insurance is still the main focus and it/you are billed for all covered services