Massage therapy could be covered by your health insurance if more people, legislators, massage therapists and massage therapy associations called for it.
As a consumer of massage therapy, you most likely know there is a variety of massage therapists and that massage therapy can help you with pain, injuries and various conditions when done in the right environment by the right massage therapist. Not all massage therapists are the same.
Clinical Massage therapists or sometimes referred to as Medical Massage therapists, work with various medical conditions such as pain, muscle injuries and conditions as well as things like PTSD and anxiety and depression. They usually have advanced training in these areas.
To get your health insurance to cover massage therapy, you need to start asking for coverage in your health insurance. If you work for a company that provides your insurance, start asking them to find plans that cover massage therapy. Washington State health insurance plans have covered massage therapy since about 1996 when a law was created called the Every Category Law which made is so insurance carriers had to cover massage therapy, as well as acupuncture and Naturopaths. It was created by the insurance commissioner at the time – Deborah Senn. She created the law and it was fought by the insurance carriers but the OIC won and the law was enforced making it so massage therapy was covered by insurance. There was even a supreme court decision that ended the battle enforcing the law.
Ask your insurance commissioner to create such a law and enforce it. Ask your legislators to start working on it with the insurance commissioners.
You may also be able to find a massage therapists that specialized in treating injuries and conditions and who might want to blaze the trail for getting massage therapy covered by health insurance. They can take your case and try to bill your massage sessions and see if they can get paid. The insurance companies will at first deny claims and it may take time to appeal the case. You can tell your massage therapist that I have a guide to billing insurance and some tips on appealing cases available. See: Massage Insurance Billing: Healthcare integration and Advocacy.
If you were in a car accident or hurt at work, massage therapy may be covered in your state. You will have to verify your benefits with your workers compensation claim manager or motor vehicle accident claim manager.