Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if Naturopathic medicine can help my health situation?
Every CT licensed Naturopathic Physician (ND) is trained to practice general naturopathic medicine, but most specialize treating certain populations, health conditions and treatment methods. I offer a 5 minute courtesy phone consult to prospective patients to help them with the decision of our working together.

Can NDs prescribe medications?
In CT, NDs by law are not allowed to write pharmaceutical prescriptions. Our state association CNPA is currently working with the legislature to update our law to include prescription rights, as we were trained in pharmacy in naturopathic medical school and is allowed in many other licensed states.

Does New Hartford Naturopathic Health Center LLC (the Center) accept health insurance?
The Center doesn’t bill insurance companies. Patients are given a Health insurance Claim Form (HICF) at their request, which includes diagnosis and procedure codes, which they can submit for possible reimbursement. Most insurance does cover lab work, PAP tests and mammograms. Medicare does not cover any visits or tests.

What forms of payment are accepted?
Checks, Cash, Visa and Master credit cards, HSAs, MSAs.

What if patients don’t have insurance?
The Center participates in a Doctor’s Choice discounted lab work program through Quest Diagnostics. This allows patients to have essential lab work done for at least half the cost.
Dr. Pouliot is a provider for the Early Detection Program (EDP) through Charlotte Hungerford Hospital. EDP offers women without insurance, or with very high deductibles and under financial duress, to have annual gynecological exams, yearly mammograms and PAP tests every three years, at no cost to the patient. Patients can contact the Center for more information.

Why doesn’t the Center accept insurance?
Dr. Pouliot schedules one hour visits for each patient, though not all of that time may be needed. This allows patients the opportunity to discuss all their concerns, review past history and labs or reports, and create a current health plan. Dr. Pouliot also requests past medical records, cross references medical records if the patient has been seeing numerous physicians for better coordination of care, and researches the patient’s condition in current conventional and Naturopathic medical literature. She is available at specific office call times and can usually return a call the same day.
This amount of time and attention spent on each patient doesn’t fit with the current insurance standard of the mandated typical 10 or 15 minutes physicians (or their nurses and PAs) have to address usually one of the patients’ concerns. At present, the comprehensive care and availability Dr. Pouliot provides is not covered by the insurance industry.