Massage & Health Insurance

Written by Kiyoki Rykman, LMT CCT CMLDT:

Texas considers massage therapy a health care service if “massage therapy is for therapeutic purposes.” Massage is an adjunct service to health care. Does this mean your health insurance will pay for it? You might be pleased to know that oftentimes the answer is yes!

OPTION 1:

If you have an HSA or FSA through your insurance or employer, you’ll want to find out if massage is an approved expenditure. If it is, you can pay with your HSA/FSA debit card at check out.

OPTION 2:

Ask your insurance if they will reimburse you for your therapeutic massages. We can provide you with receipts, session notes, and CPT codes which you will share with your insurance provider. Sometimes, they will also ask for a diagnostic code. Diagnosis is outside our scope of practice as massage therapists, but providing a clinical reason (such as pain, limited range of motion, or auto-immune diagnosis from a physician) for the massage is usually sufficient. Your insurance may also want a doctor’s note prescribing massage. Telling your primary care physician what you would tell us - chronic pain, tension, and/or restriction - and then asking for a referral for massage usually gets insurance to cover your sessions.

What can I do if my insurance/HSA/FSA doesn’t pay for massage?

We strive to keep our prices affordable to our clients - while also providing a decent wage for our therapists. If you’re new to Kraken Massage & Body, let us explain our pricing. We have three tiers and therapists working in either tier are equally skilled at Swedish and deep tissue massage; TIER 2 and TIER 3 therapists offer a more specialized skill set (if you’re not sure who to book with, read our therapist bios or give us a call). Keep in mind as well that Kraken Massage & Body is a tipless office - you never have to calculate an additional percentage on top of the session cost, as our therapists have already been fairly compensated for the session.

If you’re trying to prioritize clinical massage therapy, but you’re on a tight budget, let your therapist know what your goals are and we can come up with a plan that works. We’re also happy to suggest exercises that can complement your work with us and prolong the work we do for you in between sessions.