Massage Collage

We have been accepting insurance in my group practice since the day we opened. There was no immediate rush of insurance clients coming in the door, but over the past four years it has steadily grown to the point where insurance clients account for about a third of our business.  The paperwork is time-consuming, and every time you call the insurance company for a pre-authorization you get the same speech: “this is just an authorization, not a gaurantee of payment.”  Seems like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?  And we have so many forms for the client to fill out–an intake, an assignment of benefits, a practitioner’s lien, a release form and so forth until they surely feel like they’re applying for a mortgage just to get a massage.

If you can afford to wait to get paid for your services, insurance can mean an increase in business, because many people who couldn’t afford to pay for massage out-of-pocket will take advantage of it if they can get it for a small co-payment.  Just be sure you’re not depending on that insurance check to arrive in time to pay your rent.  There may be hoops you need to jump through in order to be a provider for some insurance companies.  For some of the companies we deal with, sending in a copy of our massage licenses and liability insurance was enough; others have had us send in photographs of the entry, bathroom and treatment rooms, I suppose to be sure we’re in compliance with the ADA (or to see if we have a clean office; who knows?).

In spite of the extreme diligence I use when filling out claim forms–they want every i dotted and every t crossed–there is still the occasional time when a claim is turned down because the authorization number was written incorrectly, or the time frame expired or some other reason.  Insurance companies are in the business of saving themselves money, and any legitimate reason to refuse a claim means more profit for them, so of course they will refuse any time they can.

Not all insurance companies pay for massage, particularly in states that don’t yet have licensure, and even among those that do, their policies on paying can vary greatly from state to state.  Many Floridians move to North Carolina.  Apparently several of the major companies that don’t pay for massage here do pay in Florida.  I have more than once had a very upset person in my office who was used to getting their massage paid for before they moved here.  One big company will only pay here in North Carolina if the massage is performed in a chiropractor’s office–a totally ridiculous policy–that the same company doesn’t have in South Carolina, less than twenty miles away. 

There are definitely a lot of pros and cons to accepting insurance.  I’d love to hear what kind of experiences other therapists have had with it.

Have a great Thanksgiving, and don’t overlook it as a marketing opportunity.  A gift certificate makes a wonderful gift for the hostess that’s been slaving over a hot stove to make a meal for friends and family.

Laura Allen

Posted on November 16th, 2007 by Laura Allen
Filed under: General