Screening massage insurance clients can help you to provide better service and get paid more quickly when you bill insurance companies for massage services.   Part of the screening questions will have to come from your boundaries that you set up around taking clients that have insurance.   It is a process to learn what works best for you and you will often be learning the hard way by first finding out what doesn’t work.

Since each state, city and insurance plan is different here are some general questions to ask before deciding to take a massage client that has insurance.

• Who is your insurance?
• What coverage do you have?
• Did you call to ask what massage therapy benefits are available?
• What type of injury do you have?
• Is it from a fall, car accident or other activity?
• Who was at fault?
• Is there a claim manager?
• Do you have an attorney (if it was at work or in the car or other liability)

After you get some basic information you can then call the insurance company to verify benefits.  I also ask the client to call them to verify the benefits too and ask them to fill out a sheet with the information on it.

You will then need to call the insurance company to verify benefits and find out what you need to do to bill the company.

• Are there massage therapy benefits available?
• Is a prescription needed?  (Most always is.  I get one even if they say no.)
• What information is needed from the doctor on the prescription?
• What information do I need to provide to the insurance company to get paid?  It is usually a bill using the CMS 1500 form, the prescription and sometimes chart notes or other reports.
• If there is a case manager they can usually give you more information.
• Find out what benefits are available.  It is usually some number of sessions or dollar amount.  Find out how much has been used if any and what benefits are remaining.  Find out what limits are place on the massage services if any.
• Find out how long it will take to get paid.  Make a note of it and call around that time to check on it’s progress.  You may also want to call in the beginning to check if they received the bill shortly after sending it.
• Get your client involved in the process of making these calls so they are informed about the case and their responsibilities.

As I said before, billing insurance is a process and it will take time in developing your own boundaries (policies and procedures) around what your needs are for financial reimbursement as well as your emotional/mental and spiritual needs.

Billing insurance can help you to fill in time slots that are otherwise empty and you can even focus on creating a  business working with doctors and billing to create a niche for yourself.

I do have more information on massage insurance billing on the website.   As with anything,  this information being provided is a stepping stone to helping you figure out what you personally need to do.  Each state and company are so different – it is just a matter of learning what questions to ask.  This is just the very beginning.

See more on questions to ask clients and insurance companies.

Related posts:

1. Massage Insurance Reimbursement
2. Can a massage therapist bill insurance companies?
3. Massage Insurance Billing Manual
4. Billing Insurance Companies for Massage Therapists
5. The State of Billing Insurance in Washington State.

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Posted in Massage Insurance Billing by Julie Onofrio 1 Comment