Bellingham Massage Clinic

In early 2018 I, and thus Bellingham Massage Clinic, stopped taking all major medical insurances (this does exclude PIP insurance which a person uses when they are in a car accident – I still bill this insurance!). It was a hard but necessary decision. For the previous few years the administrative work involved in billing […]

As of January 2014, Regence physical medicine providers must get preauthorization through a third party company, Care Core National, in order to treat a Regence patient. What this means is that massage therapists, acupuncturists, and chiropractors now need preauthorization before a visit in order for reimbursement to be considered. A simple doctor’s prescription will no […]

Billing insurance is a continual learning process. I have been lucky in that I haven’t had to deal with too many issues. However, there are some things to keep in mind if you are pursuing using your insurance for massage. As always it fully depends on your insurance company. Regence requires preauthorization for massage (and […]

In Part 1 of insurance billing I mentioned a scenario where fictitious LMP, Sally, billed $120 per massage and the insurance only allowed $58 to be paid out by them and the patient. Why is there a discrepancy? Every insurance company decides what they are going to pay out for each covered service. They set […]

In the next couple of weeks I’m going to be creating insurance pages specific to the insurances I can bill. On there you will be able to find up to date information about what your insurance will probably, or definitely does, require in order for you to use your massage benefits. As is the typical, […]

Here comes the boring and confusing part of insurance billing – the law. If you missed my first post read it here. It’s long, but I wanted to be thorough. In that post I used a story to describe why massage therapists and others often  appear to have different prices for billing insurance versus cash […]

The Insurance Game: I know there is a lot of confusion around insurance. Can you can use your benefits? Are there discounts for paying at time of service, sliding scale, etc? This post is actually a lead up to a change I’m making – don’t worry I will still bill insurance, but I want to […]

A few times a year I get asked if I offer massage packages. Apologetically I say that I don’t, *sad-frowny face,* sorry. I was asked again recently and totally had a moment of clarity. I need/want to explain why I don’t offer them and more people need to hear/understand.  This is what I do for […]

Can you take my insurance? Part Two Navigating insurance can be complicated. Unfortunately, there are several reasons using your insurance might not be an option. The most common reason I come across is that massage benefits aren’t included in a plan. Blue Cross Blue Shield plans from outside of Washington State often exclude massage completely […]

Can I bill your insurance? Maybe, maybe not. Obviously people want to keep their healthcare as affordable as possible. Often this includes wanting to use health insurance to cover massage therapy. I know how confusing it can be and as such I am always happy to look into it for clarification. Unfortunately, it’s a common […]