How we use the sliding scale
We’ve welcomed quite a lot of new patients since our move, and with that comes questions about our sliding scale. Sliding scale models are relatively rare, and come with different expectations in different contexts, so let’s revisit how this thing works at GCA.
The two main things to know:
1) You decide what you can afford, no questions asked.
2) The amount you pay does not affect the amount or quality of time, attention or needles you receive.
You really don’t owe anyone a conversation or explanation about it. We don’t do means testing of any kind. We don’t have one of those “if your income is X, then you should pay Y” charts. If you’d like to explain how your situation has changed and why the amount you pay changes over time, you can, but we don’t expect you to.
Sometimes people think that the “appropriate” amount is somewhere in the middle. That’s not how it works here. The appropriate amount is the amount that will allow you to get enough acupuncture for it to work for you. Getting the right dose of acupuncture is key, and someone with a longstanding and/or severe problem will need a lot more acupuncture than someone who’s had a mild issue crop up in the last week. If you’re in the “will need a lot of acupuncture” group, and you don’t have awesome benefits, we’d much rather you pay on the lower end, and be able to afford enough acupuncture in order to get lasting results (and then tell your friends and family about affordable acupuncture in Guelph!) rather than be overly generous in the first week and then not be able to afford the rest of the treatments you need.
If you can afford to pay more, thank you very much. But if you can’t, no problem. No one will be offended or hurt by you paying on the lower end. It’s not like tipping at a restaurant!
If you have any questions about our sliding scale, please get in touch.
