Specialty Long COVID care has become genuinely expensive. This page explains what the broader landscape costs, what we charge, and what that buys you.
If you have been researching Long COVID specialists, you have already encountered the pricing. Most prominent providers in this space have moved to concierge or platform models: monthly retainers, onboarding fees, and multi-month minimums. These ask patients to commit thousands of dollars before they know whether the care helps — and this is a population that already carries a disproportionate financial burden from illness-related unemployment and medical costs.
This practice is also out-of-network, and that has a real cost, which the section on insurance below explains. What it does not ask for is money in advance. You pay for the time you use, visit by visit, and can stop whenever the care stops being useful.
We looked carefully at what was available before building this practice's structure. The clinics we reviewed included RTHM, the Center for Healing Neurology, the Complex Autonomic Center, and Bateman Horne Center — each with genuine strengths. They shaped how we thought about what a more accessible model would need to offer differently.
What follows is a transparent account of how pricing in this space is structured, what our fees are, and what distinguishes the care behind them.
Prominent specialty clinics have restructured toward concierge and platform models over the past two years, with pricing that reflects the demand far exceeding the supply of qualified specialists.
AI-assisted platforms that combine online symptom tools with NP or MD consultations. Entry costs include onboarding fees plus monthly minimums with multi-month commitments. The lowest tier provides medication consultation only; comprehensive clinic enrollment involves substantially higher entry costs.
Specialist neurologists with deep expertise in autonomic disease and ME/CFS have moved to concierge models with monthly retainers and additional per-appointment fees. National telehealth reach, but minimum annual commitments that place care out of reach for most patients seeking it.
A smaller number of autonomic specialists have retained flat-fee self-pay consultation models. Prices for a comprehensive new patient visit run approximately $1,000–$1,300. These practices are typically state-limited.
Nonprofit centers of excellence offer the most credentialed care and insurance acceptance, but are typically single-site, geographically limited, and as of mid-2026 have closed referrals due to demand exceeding capacity.
Two pathways, each priced to make specialist-level care reachable at different points in a patient's situation.
Available in any state, including those where ongoing licensed care isn't possible. A complete specialist engagement — chart review, intake session, written Diagnostic Framework Summary, follow-up, and optional provider discussion — delivered as a single documented package.
For patients in any of the 10 licensed states. Initial visit 60–90 minutes; typical follow-ups 30 minutes, with longer visits available on request. A superbill is available on request for every visit. No monthly commitment, no platform fee, no onboarding cost.
Three differences: what care costs over time, who delivers it, and how much of the illness it covers.
| Model | Structure | First year, monthly care |
|---|---|---|
| This practice | $750 first visit (90 min) + 11 follow-ups at $250 | $3,500 |
| Solo self-pay specialist | ~$1,250 new patient + ~$525 per 40-min follow-up | ~$7,000 |
| Platform clinic | ~$1,500 onboarding + ~$1,000/month, 3-month minimum | ~$13,500 |
| Concierge neurology | $2,500–$8,500/month retainer, treatments extra | $30,000–$102,000 |
Illustrative only. Assumes a 90-minute first visit and one 30-minute follow-up per month; your visit frequency may differ. Other models are approximate, based on published pricing as of mid-2026, and exclude treatments and labs.
No retainer, onboarding fee, or monthly minimum. Labs, imaging, and prescriptions go through your own insurance as usual. You pay only for visits, as they happen.
Long COVID's neuropsychiatric burden — hyperarousal, cognitive dysfunction, sleep architecture disruption, central sensitization, chronic pain — falls squarely across both specialties. No other prominent specialist in this space holds both boards. This is a clinical capability difference, not a credential signal. Every visit is with Dr. Claunch.
The Diagnostic Framework Summary is not a visit note. It's a structured document your PCP can act on, that you can bring to any future provider, and that remains useful as your treatment evolves. Most specialist encounters — at any price — produce nothing comparable.
Treatment selection follows from sub-syndrome identification — not the reverse. The three crash-pattern framework (orthostatic, migrainous/central sensitization, delayed systemic) maps directly to different treatment targets. Arriving at the right treatment sequence requires correctly identifying which pattern is dominant. That work happens before any prescription is written — and it covers the whole illness, including its neuropsychiatric side and a screen for other common contributors to fatigue.
Some interventions widely promoted in this space have observational support only. Others have strong trial data. We distinguish between them — not to be conservative for its own sake, but because treatment decisions in patients with complex comorbidities should be grounded in what the evidence actually shows, not what patients have been told to ask for.
The Long COVID Tracker app — free, no account required, no data sent anywhere — lets you run the NASA Lean Test, log crashes with the 48-hour window that matters for identifying crash type, track medications, and export a provider-ready report before any appointment. No competitor offers this between-visit infrastructure at any price.
Even $1,500 is real money, especially when you have already spent that amount — and often far more — on providers who did not help. We are not going to tell you the cost doesn't matter, because it does. What we can say is that the Diagnostic Framework Consultation is designed to be a complete engagement rather than a starting point for ongoing fees: you leave with a documented framework that is actionable for your primary care provider and useful to you regardless of what follow-up looks like.
For ongoing patients, a superbill may recover part of the visit cost through out-of-network benefits, and the rest of your care still runs through your insurance. For patients weighing the consultation, the comparison that matters isn't what you've already spent — it's whether, a year from now, having a clear framework would have changed what you and your doctors tried, and in what order.
If cost is the deciding factor and you're not in a licensed state, the articles and app are free. The framework they describe is the same one used in every clinical encounter here. Start there.
Long COVID Doc does not contract with any insurance company. Here is why, and what that does and does not change.
That decision was made reluctantly and for specific reasons. Contracting has become steadily more complex for independent physicians. It brings more administrative requirements, and audits that can take back payment for visits months or years after they happened. Reimbursement for independent practices has also fallen compared with hospital systems.
On top of that, the rules for covering video visits have changed repeatedly and may change again. Most patients here depend on telehealth because travel is often not realistic for them. Building their care on coverage rules that may not last would put that risk on the people least able to absorb it.
Your insurance generally covers labs, imaging, and prescriptions ordered here the same way it would if another physician ordered them. The lab, imaging center, or pharmacy bills your plan directly. As with any physician, your plan makes its own coverage decisions and may decline a particular test or treatment. When your plan requires prior authorization for a medication, lab, or imaging study ordered here, this office submits it.
Ongoing patients in any of the 10 licensed states can receive a superbill for each visit on request. If your plan has out-of-network benefits, you can submit it for partial reimbursement. The amount depends entirely on your plan, so ask about your out-of-network specialist benefit before your first visit. Some plans, particularly HMO and POS plans, reimburse specialist visits only when a referral from your primary care provider is on file. Superbills are not available for the Diagnostic Framework Consultation.
Dr. Claunch has opted out of Medicare. Under federal rules, Medicare (including Medicare Advantage plans) cannot pay for his services, and superbills from this practice cannot be submitted to Medicare. The same rules require patients with Medicare to sign a short private contract before care begins. Labs, imaging, and prescriptions he orders are generally still covered by Medicare as usual.
This practice is not enrolled with Medicaid. Some state Medicaid programs will pay for labs, imaging, or prescriptions only when the ordering physician is enrolled, so local rules may affect your coverage. Check with your plan before your first visit.
Under the federal No Surprises Act, patients who are not using insurance for their care have the right to a Good Faith Estimate of expected charges.
For questions or more information, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises/consumers or read the full CMS notice.