New Patients

What patients are each of the doctors accepting?

• Dr. Bernstein

  • Taking new pediatrics privately insured and those with Medicare. He will not be accepting new adult patients at this time.

  • Works at the East Asheville office Mondays & Fridays, and the Arden office Tuesday-Wednesday

• Dr. Kottoor

  • Taking new pediatrics and new adults, both privately insured and those with Medicare.

  • Works only at the East Asheville office Mondays, Wednesdays, & every other Friday

• Dr. Bubb

  • Taking only new pediatric patients.

  • Works only at the Arden office on Tuesdays & Fridays

• Dr. Nicolini

  • Taking only new pediatric patients.

  • Works at the Arden office Mondays & Fridays, and the East Asheville office on Tuesdays & Thursdays

• Dr. Morehouse

  • Taking new pediatrics and new adults, both privately insured and those with Medicare.

  • Works at the Arden office on Mondays, Wednesdays, & Thursdays and at the East Asheville office on Tuesdays

• ​​​​​​​Dr. Laura Penny

  • She works full-time at both locations.
  • Accepts both pediatrics and adults who are privately insured and have Medicare.

New Patient Policies:

• A debit, credit, or HSA card must be given to place on file at the time of scheduling, as well as all insurance information. No appointment can be booked without these items.

• For new pediatric patients, we ask that a copy of vaccine records be sent to the office before the visit or a physical copy can be brought at the time of the appointment as well. Patients must already be vaccinated or be willing to vaccinate in order to schedule.

• ​​​​​​​New patient paperwork will be sent electronically via text and email starting 5 days before the visit. This must be completed in its entirety 48 hours before the visit, which includes a photo of the insurance card taken and submitted. If this is not completed, the appointment will be canceled. If you are not able to complete electronic forms, arrangements must be made ahead of time for you to complete them by hand, but those must be turned into the office at least a week prior to your visit

Do you take my insurance?

We currently accept AARP, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, CHAMP VA, Cigna, Coventry, Crescent, Humana, Medcost, Medicaid, Medicare, and Tricare. At this time, we do not accept any Adult Medicaid, including DualComplete plans and any secondary Medicaid plans. We are also no longer in network with the Mission HCA Aetna plan. If you have any questions about your plan before requesting a visit, please call the office and we are happy to assist.

Please Bring the Following to Every Appointment

• Picture ID – such as driver’s license or passport
• All current insurance cards- A MUST AT EVERY APPOINTMENT -
• A list of all current prescription and non-prescription medications, vitamins, and supplements
• Method of payment- we do require every patient to keep a credit card on file

For further details, please review our Financial Policy here

Insurance Coverage

Insurance is a contractual arrangement between the patient and the insurance company, and we are glad to assist you in collecting benefits to which you are entitled

We participate with Tricare, Medicare, and Medicaid, including Healthy Blue, UHC Medicaid, AmeriHealth, and WellCare. However, our Adult Medicaid Panel is FULL at this time, and we are not accepting any new Adult Medicaid patients. We are still accepting Pediatric Medicaid patients.

We are in-network with MOST commercial health plans, including BCBS, United Healthcare, Cigna, Aetna (*We are considered out-of-network with Aetna Mission HCA Health Insurance) , Humana, and more. Please log into your health plan and make us your Primary Care Provider today.

To verify we are in NETWORK with your insurance or to obtain plan-specific information, Please contact your insurance company representative by calling the (800) number on the back of your insurance card.

If you do not see your insurance company, please call our office to see if we participate.

Billing Process

Here's what you can expect during our billing process:

We will file to the insurance provided by the patient. Once we have heard back from the insurance company, we will send the patient a statement along with an email/text stating that we will run your card on file in 5-7 days.

If the patient needs to make other payment arrangements such as mailing a check, setting up a payment plan, or scheduling this payment for a future date, please call us as soon as you receive your email/text statement.

Should there be questions or concerns about the bill, please call our office and ask for our billing team.

Self-pay & Private Pay Options

We are committed to ensuring that everyone can access high-quality family medical care. As part of this commitment, we provide a 30% discount on our standard fees exclusively to patients who settle their bill in full at the time of service. We accept payment in various forms, including cash, check, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.

Please note that services provided that cannot be discounted include but are not limited to:

• Injections

• Immunizations

• EKG

• Holter/Heart Monitors Interpretations

• Spirometry test
  ​​​​​​​

If the patient has labs or other tests performed, they may receive a billing statement for services from outside agencies.

Annual Wellness Visits

It's important for patients to understand that Annual Wellness Visits (AWVs) typically focus on preventive care and wellness assessments. Any additional services or management of other conditions, cronic or new, during the AWV may incur extra charges, depending on the patient's insurance coverage and the specific services provided.

If a patient receives an office visit in addition to the AWV, they may be subject to additional costs such as copays or deductibles, depending on how their insurance processes the claim.

​​​​​​​Patients should feel free to ask questions about the cost of upcoming visits, but for detailed information about their insurance coverage and any potential out-of-pocket expenses, it's best to contact the customer service number on the back of their insurance card. This will ensure they receive the most accurate and up-to-date information about their specific insurance plan.

Medicare Patients- Advance Beneficiary Notices

If we determine that Medicare will not cover a lab test recommended by your physician, we will ask for written consent to pay for these tests and discuss any risks if the patient declines.

How do I set up a new patient appointment?

At the moment, we ask that you do not call to schedule a new visit. Please fill out the new patient request form linked below, which will place you in a virtual queue. We call in the order we receive, so please be patient once you submit it and understand that it is taking us 3-4 weeks to get back to you to schedule.
​​​​​​​