The Price of Holistic Wellness: Access, Culture, and the Cost of Care

Holistic Wellness is often marketed as inclusive. “Anyone can do it”, “Wellness is for everyone”.  But if you’ve ever looked at the price tag for an acupuncture session, a Reiki healing, or even a spiritual wellness workshop, you already know there is a lack of consistency across the board. The prices go from affordable to high-end luxury, and the services don’t always match the price.

The truth, the people who need healing the most are often the ones priced out, that’s the cost of holistic wellness

Inclusive in Language, Often Exclusive in Practice

Walk into many wellness spaces, and you’ll hear talk of balance, healing, and inner peace. But scroll down to the pricing section, and things quickly shift. A single acupuncture visit may cost $90–$150. A Reiki session? Up to $250 in some cities (yes, I found some that high in my research). Specialized herbal consultations, energy healing, or trauma-informed spiritual coaching can easily reach $200 or more. While some offer income-based sliding scales (we do), most don’t.

These aren’t spa services, but they are treated like they are in many cases. These are care practices rooted in culture and tradition but priced like luxury goods that are only meant for a select few. It’s no wonder that many people, especially those in marginalized communities, feel that holistic wellness has become a luxury they can’t afford.

The Commercialization of Healing

Has capitalism turned healing and wellness into a commodity? What was once passed down in families, offered within villages, and exchanged through community reciprocity has become a high-ticket service.

Wellness has been rebranded for the mainstream. It’s often stripped of cultural context and sold back to the world as neutral, aesthetic, and elite. The result? Spiritual bypassing, influencer culture, and wellness gatekeeping thrive, while cultural originators are excluded, undercompensated, or criticized.

I’m not just talking about appropriation (that’s another conversation for another day), I’m talking about access. When wellness is commercialized without regard for equity, the very communities these practices come from are the first ones excluded.  Then the practices get watered down or altered to fit the audience and when someone practices correctly, they are treated as if they are doing something wrong.

Healthcare Access Ends Where Holistic Healing Begins

Even for those with health insurance, holistic wellness often isn’t covered. Practices like acupuncture are only reimbursed in certain states, under strict diagnostic conditions, and usually for specific treatments (like back pain or dental acupuncture).  Reiki, herbal medicine (even though TCM based), cupping, Ayurveda, energy healing, yoga, and other traditional systems are rarely, if ever covered under U.S. health plans.

When they are, coverage is inconsistent, state by state, plan by plan, provider by provider.

Most insurance companies still classify these are “alternative”, “complementary” or “elective”, placing them outside the bounds of routine care. That means people have to pay out-of-pocket or forgo these healing options altogether. That means it’s no longer an option, but a choice.

The People Left Need It the Most

Holistic Wellness is often a safe haven for those who have been harmed or neglected by mainstream systems. But it’s also often inaccessible to those same individuals.

·         BIPOC communities navigating racialized trauma and chronic stress

·         Disabled individuals and neurodivergent people seeking non-invasive, nervous-system-

friendly support

·         Working-class families who simply can’t afford out-of-pocket care

·         LGBTQ+ individuals looking for safe, spiritually affirming healing environments

These communities often require holistic wellness to counteract the harm of generational trauma, systemic neglect, and medical racism.  Pricing them out is abandoning the very people wellness claims to serve.

It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way

We can’t claim to be inclusive if our pricing models, insurance systems, and industry practices continue to exclude the most in need. We need a shift that goes beyond marketing buzzwords and enters the realm of intentional access.

That includes:

·         Sliding scale pricing that honors lived realities

·         Community-supported funds, wellness mutual aid, and low-cost clinics

·         Educator-practitioners who honor cultural lineage and build equity into their business models

·         Policy reform that advocates for holistic modalities to be covered under mainstream

insurance

·         More representation and certification opportunities for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and disabled

practitioners

Wellness Should Be a Right, Not a Privilege

Healing should never be a privilege. It should be a human right. We may not fix a systemic issue overnight, but we can each contribute to a new vision, built on equality, justice, culture and collective care.