Hey all! Here I am going to go over some frequently asked questions I get regarding health benefit plans regarding massage therapy… (This is coming from someone working out of Ontario, Canada. So I apologize to anyone who is outside this area, it may not pertain you).
- Is Massage Therapy covered under Extended Health Benefits?
The short answer is, yes! However, most plans require the Massage Therapist to be Registered (which I am, yay!).
- How does payment work?
You have 2 options here…
- Just pay your RMT after the session, receive your receipt for the treatment and submit yourself. Many providers have apps for your phone nowadays, or you can do it online or even through snail mail.
- Many RMTs offer direct billing to health benefit companies. (I do this!) Depending on how your plan is set up, sometimes payment will only be sent to the insured member (yourself), but many do send payment directly to the RMT.
- How much coverage do I have per year?
This will vary for each person. All plans are different. Some plans can be a total amount per cycle, some can be a specified amount per session, some may even be unlimited. The best way to know how your specific plan works is to call your benefit provider. (They won’t speak to service providers, so unfortunately we can’t help here.) But you can always come in, provide your plan information and see what happens when the direct billing is submitted.
- When do my benefits renew?
Most companies run their cycle from January to December each year. However, some do run based on when you first started using your benefits. Definitely check with your benefit provider to know for certain.
- What benefit providers can you direct bill to?
Now this will likely be different for each individual RMT, but here is a list of the most common companies I deal with (there are others too I can direct bill to, so just ask!):
Manulife, Otip, Sun Life Financial, Greenshield, RWAM, Blue Cross, Johnson Inc, RBC and Canada Life (formerly Great West Life), ClaimSecure, Desjardin Insurance and GroupHEALTH.
- Do I need a doctor’s note to qualify for coverage?
Sometimes. Again the answer to this question depends upon how your coverage is set up. Some plans do require a doctor’s note (or “medical prescription”) for their benefits to coverage massage therapy. Some providers will cover past treatments once you have procured your note, sometimes they won’t. So definitely check with your benefit provider before hand to make sure you have all your ducks in a row.
I hope this helped answer some of your questions. Feel free to leave a comment below or contact me directly if you have any other questions!
Take care,
xoxo, Amy
