If you have regular aches and pains that seem to be eased a lot with a therapeutic massage or even a massage chair, you might wonder if either of these things is covered by your insurance plan.
Since health insurance plans vary quite a bit, this is a difficult question to answer; however, in many cases they will pay for at least part of the expenses so that not all of the money comes straight out of your pocket.
Just how difficult is it? It depends on your own particular plan, but although the process can be a bit of a challenge, this doesn’t mean you should not give it a try.
First Thing’s First
In most cases, if you want either a massage chair for your home or regular visits to a professional massage therapist, you’ll have to pay for these things yourself first and then get reimbursed by your insurance company.
There are a few ways you can do this, the first one being to use the purchase of the chair or the first few massage visits as part of your deductible, which can bring you one step closer to having your provider start paying for all of your other claims.
If you have a flexible spending account (FSA) or a health savings account (HSA), you can use some of the money you’ve deposited into one of these accounts to pay for your chair.
Since this money goes into these accounts pre-tax, it means you’re using money that you haven’t yet paid taxes on, which usually means there’s more of it to spend.
In addition, you may also be able to deduct the cost of the chair from your income taxes come April, but you’ll need to check with your accountant first before doing so.
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What Does it Take to Get These Things Covered?
In most cases, your insurance company will require some sort of documentation or prescription for either the chair or the massage treatment.
They will never just automatically reimburse you for these things.
You’ll need a prescription or documentation from your doctor, as well as a detailed receipt for any chair or massage visit you’ve paid for, to be reimbursed properly.
Even in these circumstances, you’ll likely only receive reimbursement for 80% of the costs and not the entire amount. Still, this is much better than paying for 100% of the costs yourself.
After all, both massage chairs and visits to massage therapists can be very expensive, so getting reimbursed for most of what you’re paying is much better than receiving no reimbursement at all. The more money you get reimbursed in the end, the less out-of-pocket money you’ll have to come up with.
You also need to know that before you purchase that massage chair or schedule that first visit to the massage therapist, you’ll need to check with your insurance provider first.
You’ll want to know upfront what they do and do not pay for to be prepared for the amount you’ll have to pay yourself. If you want no surprises later on, you’ll consider this a crucial step of the process.
Conclusion
Medical insurance can be complicated to understand, so finding out if they’ll pay for your massage chair or massage therapy visits can be confusing to say the least.
Most health insurance companies will pay for at least part of the expenses associated with these two things, but you should always call your individual provider and get specific details on your particular plan.
This way, you’ll know what you’re expected to pay for yourself and there will be no surprises later on during the process, which means you’ll be completely prepared for what it’s going to cost you.
