Tenacious Health

Healthcare feels impossible. You need someone in your corner.

As your tenacious patient advocate and care concierge, I help you navigate health systems to get the care you need and deserve.

Currently building my practice. Join the waitlist to be notified when I'm accepting new clients.

Join the Waitlist

Be the first to know when I'm accepting new clients. I'll reach out personally when spots open up.

How I Support You

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Insurance Navigation & Benefits Coordination

I'll help you understand your coverage across Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. From verifying benefits to submitting claims, managing prior authorizations, and appealing denials through all levels including external review, I persistently advocate to ensure you get the care you deserve.

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Care Coordination & Clinical Navigation

Managing multiple specialists and chronic conditions can be overwhelming. I help ensure seamless care across all your healthcare settings, so nothing falls through the cracks. I facilitate effective and timely communication between you and your providers and, when needed, between different providers. I can also help identify and vet providers, arrange appointments, and accompany you to appointments via telehealth or in-person in New York City.

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Healthcare Decision Support

Drawing on my health research expertise and decades of patient advocacy experience, I help you weigh treatment options and other care decisions by discussing the merits and risks of each approach without directive bias. My role is to support your inner knowing and help you make informed decisions aligned with your values and goals.

About Me

At three years old, I yanked an IV out of my own arm. According to my mom, when I woke up from my tonsillectomy, I saw the IV and boldly informed the recovery nurse, "I don't want this here!" before pulling it right out. It's our family's earliest record of my lifelong commitment to patient autonomy (though I definitely don't recommend this approach!).

That defiant toddler would grow up to face down tough doctors and tougher bureaucracies, advocating for myself through multiple chronic, complex conditions, as well as for my family members and friends as they faced complex care needs of their own. I experienced how powerless and overwhelmed patients often feel navigating labyrinth healthcare systems and clinician interactions.

In 2025, I became a Board-Certified Patient Advocate (BCPA) to formalize the work I'd been doing for decades and expand my service offerings to more patients.

Outside Tenacious Health my public health career focuses on advancing health equity and addressing social determinants of health. I hold a Master of Health Science (MHS) in Social Factors in Health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. I've worked on community-based health initiatives with the Baltimore and NYC Departments of Health and consulted for federal health agencies through the MITRE Corporation Center for Transforming Health.

I live in Brooklyn, NY and in my leisure time enjoy singing, making homemade ferments, and long afternoons at the park or the beach.

$Rachel Bergstein, MHS, BCPA$

My Practice

My Values

I believe you are the expert on your own body. My job isn't to override your inner knowing—it's to support it, amplify your voice, help you make decisions in alignment with your needs and values, and overcome the systemic barriers standing between you and the care you deserve. My practice is trauma-informed, centers disability justice, and affirms queer and neurodivergent identities.

How I Work

I practice independent patient advocacy and care concierge, which means I work exclusively for you- not insurance companies, not healthcare systems, not hospitals. My only loyalty is to your health and wellbeing.

My Approach

Every advocacy relationship begins with listening. I take time to understand your unique situation, your health goals, and what matters most to you. From there, we build a care plan together, one that respects your autonomy while leveraging my expertise to navigate the system.

What to Expect

I bring persistence, organization, and emotional intelligence to every case. Whether I'm coordinating communication between specialists, appealing an insurance denial, or helping you weigh treatment options, you can count on reliable follow-through, honest communication, and unwavering advocacy.

Who I Serve

I specialize in supporting people with complex, often invisible illnesses: multiple chronic conditions, chronic pain (especially female pelvic pain), and diagnoses that are poorly researched or difficult to pin down. I am also experienced working with older adults and their caregivers, people with significant medical anxiety or medical trauma, and people who are thoughtfully cautious about airborne illness. In short: if you're dealing with a complex medical situation, feeling unheard or unsupported by your current healthcare team, or navigating a healthcare system that feels confusing and overwhelming, I'm here to help. I am most familiar with major healthcare systems in New York and the Washington DC-Baltimore region, and work remotely with clients anywhere.

Fees

I offer transparent, straightforward pricing with no hidden costs. Because independent advocacy means my only obligation is to you, my fees are paid directly by clients, never by insurers or health systems. All fees are on a sliding scale based on your financial circumstances.

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Hourly Rate

$80–250/hr

Ideal for discrete tasks such as reviewing medical records, preparing for an appointment, or navigating a single insurance issue.

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Monthly Retainer

Minimum $1,000/mo

Ongoing support for complex or evolving situations such as chronic condition management, multi-specialist coordination, or extended insurance disputes.

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Project-Based

Custom

Scoped engagements for well-defined needs such as insurance appeals, care transition planning, or a comprehensive second-opinion process.

Free Initial Consultation

I offer a complimentary 30-minute consultation so we can discuss your situation, determine whether we're a good fit, and explore how I can best support you, with no obligation to proceed.