Parsley Health moves in-network nationwide - as insurers test functional medicine models
Functional medicine has typically been accessed on a cash-pay basis
Parsley Health will become one of the first functional medicine providers to go in-network nationwide in the US, expanding access across major insurers including Aetna, UnitedHealthcare, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Humana and Centene.
The move means eligible services - including provider visits, diagnostic testing and prescriptions - will now be covered through insurance, marking a shift for a model that has historically sat outside the system.
“When I founded Parsley Health a decade ago, my personal mission was to make quality, evidence-based functional medicine and longevity care available to everyone,” said Robin Berzin, Founder and CEO of Parsley Health.
“Going in-network nationally was the ultimate dream.”
The announcement signals early signs of payer openness to models of care focused on chronic disease management - which disproportionately impacts women - alongside lifestyle interventions and more longitudinal patient support.
Functional medicine has typically been accessed on a cash-pay basis, limiting it to those able to afford ongoing, often premium-priced care. Bringing elements of that model in-network could expand access more broadly.
A hybrid model
Parsley will continue to operate a hybrid model, with patients paying a $125 monthly programme fee, while insurance covers select services such as consultations and lab testing. The additional fee supports services that remain outside standard reimbursement, including nutrition support, care coordination and ongoing patient engagement between visits.
Its clinicians take a systems-based approach, looking at how factors such as hormones, metabolism, gut health and inflammation contribute to conditions including autoimmune disease, metabolic dysfunction, infertility and menopause.
Parsley has phased its expansion into insurance over the past two years. In 2023, the company first went in-network in New York through a partnership with Mount Sinai Hospital, followed by expansion into California. This nationwide rollout represents a tenfold increase in coverage.
The move comes as pressure builds across the US healthcare system to better manage chronic conditions, which account for the majority of healthcare spend. Parsley says that today, three in four American adults live with at least one chronic condition, and more than half manage multiple.
There is growing interest in preventative and lifestyle-led approaches, but historically these have been difficult to standardise, measure and reimburse at scale.
Early signs of system experimentation
At the same time, public payers are beginning to test similar ideas. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has introduced new pilot programmes designed to evaluate lifestyle-based and preventative care models, with a focus on building the evidence base for future coverage decisions.
“Functional medicine was once expensive, hard to find, and frequently of inconsistent quality,” Berzin said.
“We’re giving Americans access to care that both optimizes health and treats disease sustainably - and bringing us one step closer to a more proactive healthcare system.”
Taken together, these developments suggest the system may be entering an early phase of experimentation - testing whether more personalised, “root cause” approaches to care can be adapted to fit within existing payment models.