Insurance Billing for Massage in Washington StateMassage Therapists in Washington State are able to bill HMO's and PPO's for massage therapy services because of the Every Category Law (pdf file) that requires that insurance companies in WA State allow massage therapist, acupuncturists and Naturopaths bill insurance companies. All massage must be medically necessary and you must contact each company to see what their medical necessity clause is. Most only cover acute injuries with loss of function. They don't cover maintenance massage or wellness massage. All massage requires a prescription with the diagnosis code and treatment plan that includes the number of sessions and the frequency of sessions. You can sign up with the following insurance companies to become a contracted provider: Healthways WholeHealth Networks (HWHN) represent Aetna, Cigna, Uniform Medical, and a group of auto insurance companies. They also represent Group Health but they are not taking new providers as far as I know. Some of the providers lists are closed. You can make an attempt at getting on their list by proving that there are not enough massage therapists in your area. You can use www.officeally.com to bill directly to these companies online. It can speed up payments. The AMTA-WA also has a group of attorneys working with them to read the contracts for the providers to help people make more informed decisions about things like setting fees, understanding the contracts and learning to bill insurance companies.
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