One of the most frequent questions we receive when people call us to book appointments is whether their insurance will cover our services. While some massage therapists hope that more insurance companies will start offering coverage for these services, I personally do not want insurance companies involved in my business. In my experience as a client, insurance companies seem more interested in making money for themselves than in helping me receive the care I need.
Before I started my massage business, I injured my right shoulder and developed a severe frozen shoulder. Luckily, I met a massage therapist who helped me recover. Although I don’t usually ask massage therapists if I can use insurance, I decided to ask her and she accepted my insurance. I was thrilled that I only had to pay $45, which was less than half of her usual fee, and I thought she was getting paid by my insurance company. However, after a few months, she informed me that she would no longer accept insurance because the insurance company wasn’t paying her anything while she was already giving a 55% discount on her price. When I asked her about the benefits of working with this insurance company, she said that they sometimes bring in new clients. However, in my case, I didn’t find her through the insurance company, so she had to take a 55% pay cut on her service just because she was participating in their network. I felt terrible that she was doing such a good job to help me get better, and yet I was paying her so little. This is an extreme case, but it’s true that most insurance companies don’t pay massage therapists well, which is why you hardly see any massage therapists who accept insurance.
I would like to emphasize that massage therapy is a physically demanding job. If you book a 60-minute session, you are receiving a full hour of hands-on work. Moreover, massage therapists have to complete over 1,000 hours of schooling and practice before passing the board exam. It takes a lot of skill to help improve your condition, and finding a good massage therapist is like finding a diamond. As an employer, I find it extremely challenging to come across such skilled professionals, and when I do, I need to invest time and resources to retain them. Therefore, please do not take our service for granted when you find it valuable. Good massage therapists are rare, and it is worth paying for quality services. I understand that everything is expensive these days, and you might want to save money on massages, but if you want to keep getting good results, you need to take excellent care of the therapists who provide you with those services. After all, if you want to keep producing eggs, you need to take good care of your chickens.
Insurance companies dictate what we do, and they make our practice less effective; that’s why people have low expectations of their performance because whether you like it or not, you have to go to them because they are in the network. If you get paid regardless of your performance and are not awarded for your good work, people lose motivation. I want to work most effectively, not dictated by the insurance company.
If you still want insurance to cover your massage, look for them. They exist. But I want to remind you why you want to get a massage. Is it to save money, or is it to improve your health?
