April updates: Pricing Updates
Current members: You have a new title!
If you are currently enrolled at Dandelion Health, we consider you a “Founding Member!” We are rolling out a price change for all NEW members. As a Founding Member, your price will NOT increase. We thank you for trusting us with your care and are honoring your ongoing membership by continuing your current membership rate. In fact, the rate will decrease for some Founding Members. Please read on to learn about why we are changing our pricing and what changes you will see.
Expansion of Services since 2020
Our current prices were determined in March 2020, when Dr. Joe was a solo doctor doing telehealth and home visits (some of you remember those days!). Since then, all of our vendors have increased their prices, AND we are proud to have vastly expanded the services we offer. Within our brick & mortar clinic, we are now 2 physicians, 1 office coordinator who also does blood draws, a registered nurse, and a part-time pharmacy technician. We are providing bilingual English and Spanish care for newborns through elders, offering in-house lab tests, and an in-house pharmacy selling at-cost medications.
For those with low income and no insurance who need specialty medications, we’ve learned to tap into the Drug Manufacturer’s Financial Assistance programs and have accessed over $70,000 of medications for Dandelion Health members!
We want to make sure all current members are aware of the services we offer. See below for a detailed listing. If you have any questions or specific needs outside of this, please inquire!
New pricing for New members
To reflect the clinic’s operations and better meet the needs of the communities that we serve, we are moving from an age-based membership price to ONE flat monthly fee, called the “Full Cost” membership, with discounts available for multiple people on the same method of payment. We’re also introducing a Solidarity Scale, details below.
How are Founding Members affected?
As a Founding Member, your price will NOT increase.
In fact, current members ages 60+ will have an automatic decrease in membership price to $85/month starting the payment due after June 1, 2025.
If you are 40 years and older and interested in decreasing your membership cost, please review the Solidarity Scale Self-Assessment above to determine if you qualify for the “Solidarity Membership.”
All members: If you feel moved to pay a higher rate to offset someone else’s membership in the community, please reach out to let us know. You can either choose to update your membership to our new Full Cost, or you can select the “Redistribution Membership.”
Thank you as always for trusting us with your primary care. Please let us know if you have any questions.
Most Sincerely,
Your team at Dandelion Health
March 2025
Measles outbreak:
We are carefully monitoring the news of Measles circulating around the country. Measles is a highly contagious viral illness that can have serious long-term complications, so it is important to prevent it.
What you need to know:
Symptoms begin 7-14 days after exposure
Symptoms typically start as a high fever, cough, runny nose and red eyes; A few days later, a rash typically starts on the face and spreads down the body.
How to PREVENT getting measles:
The surest way to prevent getting measles is to get Measles Immunity
Are you immune? Check https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/measles/ to see how you can know if you are protected
The current vaccine schedule recommends an MMR vaccine at 12-15 months of age and another dose at age 4.
If you have children in this age group who have not yet received their vaccine, please schedule to get them vaccinated.
If your child is 3 years or older, or younger than 3 and has commercial insurance, you can schedule with Bremo Pharmacy: https://BremoPharmacy.as.me/Dandelion.
If your child is under 3 years old and has Medicaid or does not have insurance, you can schedule with the Health Department: (804) 482-5500.
Infants: If you have a child 6-12 months of age, Virginia Department of Health recommends vaccinating early for measles if you are planning to travel internationally or “to an outbreak setting.” We additionally recommend this early vaccination if you are a part of social communities that are not vaccinated. If your child is a member at Dandelion Health and you would like to pursue early vaccination, please contact us so we can guide you.
If you think you had exposure, or if you think you have symptoms, please isolate and contact us.
We will ask for your symptoms and potential exposure in advance
We will meet you outside for testing, as we have been doing for covid and flu tests
Update your insurance information:
It’s a new year! If you have new insurance, please send us a picture of the front and back of your card (either on Spruce or via email or text message). If you have lost your insurance, please also let us know.
Community Safety Planning:
Immigrants are a vibrant and vital part of our community, and we care about keeping the community safe. We would like to share some information from immigration justice organizations. Please share these as you see fit.
Immigration Attorneys in VA and DC area:
https://www.acluva.org/sites/default/files/1pg_referrals_ir_2024.pdf
Infographics in multiple languages on emergency preparedness and how to respond if ICE stops you or comes to your home or work.
https://www.immigrantdefenseproject.org/infographics/#0-know-your-rights
Guides in English and Spanish on how to respond if ICE shows up.
https://unitedwedream.org/resources/know-your-rights/
https://unitedwedream.org/resources/conoce-tus-derechos-una-guia-para-inmigrantes/
Community Collaboration Spotlight:
La Casa de la Salud is a local organization of Community Health Workers developed to address the needs of our LatinoAmerican community members. Through their radio station, different programs and workshops, this team provides patient education, advocacy, and skill sharing for effective management of chronic illness. Dandelion Health has referred patients there for support and care navigation, and Dr. Joe has spoken on their radio show in the past! Check out their work and consider making a donation to support them.
Radio Show: 30 minute segment every other week on Radio Poder 1380
December 2024
It’s health insurance season!
Now until Jan 15, 2025, you can enroll in or change your insurance plan on www.healthcare.gov.
If you are insured through your employer, you may have options within their offerings.
Tips:
Certain plans, including “HMO” plans, are very restrictive and make it difficult for us Dandelion Health to place referrals and imaging orders for you. We recommend that you confirm that your plan allows an “out of network clinician” to do referrals. This will allow us to use your insurance benefit in your care.
A guide to health insurance terminology to help you understand your plan: https://www.npr.org/2021/10/15/1046371801/health-insurance-terms-defined-open-enrollment
If it does not make sense for you to pay for health insurance, consider pairing your Dandelion Health membership with a “Health Share” membership (Example: Sedera) so that you have financial backup for any catastrophes.
If you and your doctor have considered medications that are costly and not covered by your plan, explore the “Preferred drug lists” of other plans to see if it makes sense for you to switch.
Fact: About half of Dandelion Health members have insurance and half don’t. Our membership works for everyone!
Warm welcome to Mónica, RN! Our team has grown.
Dandelion Health welcomes a registered nurse to the team!
Mónica is our new RN Case Manager. Her role is to collaborate with patients on their health and care goals, triage concerns, help manage medications and illness, and support navigation of healthcare systems. She has experience as a nurse in different settings, including in-hospital, residential treatment, and home health care. Her practice is based on values of patient autonomy and dignity in care. With her varied experience, she strives to bridge care gaps and support patients throughout their healthcare journey.
Mónica is our new RN Case Manager. Her role is to collaborate with patients on their health and care goals, triage concerns, help manage medications and illness, and support navigation of healthcare systems. She has experience as a nurse in different settings, including in-hospital, residential treatment, and home health care. Her practice is based on values of patient autonomy and dignity in care. With her varied experience, she strives to bridge care gaps and support patients throughout their healthcare journey.
We are now a team of 4: Dr. Joe, Dr. Dianat, Natasha (office coordinator and certified phlebotomist), and Mónica, RN.
Vaccines
We recommend each person get the following if you have not yet:
Seasonal Influenza vaccine booster
Covid-19 vaccine booster
RSV vaccine - Everyone over 75 years old and certain people 60-74 years old with heart, lung, or immune disease are due for a one time dose.
Celebrating small businesses: Come post on our Bulletin Board!
We have mounted a large bulletin board in the waiting room. Bring your business brochures, event flyers, and cards – we want to celebrate and support your businesses or projects!
Community Collaboration Spotlight: Bremo Pharmacy
Dandelion Health has signed an agreement with Bremo Pharmacy that allows you to easily schedule a vaccine appointment there by using this online scheduler: https://BremoPharmacy.as.me/Dandelion
If you have commercial insurance, then most every vaccine is available for infants, children, and adults.
If you have Medicaid and you’re 3 years or older, then you can get most all routine vaccines at Bremo.
If you are uninsured and ages 3-17 years old, then Bremo works with the Vaccine for Children program to provide free routine vaccines.
If you are uninsured and younger than 3 or 18 or older, then we recommend scheduling vaccines with any of the local health departments: https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/richmond-city/immunization-program/
Note: the federal support for free COVID-19 vaccines is no longer active. Please follow our Instagram for updates on opportunities for free community Flu and Covid vaccine events.