More and more insurance companies are allowing massage therapists to bill for their services.  In all states, massage therapists are able to bill insurance companies for motor vehicle accidents and Labor and Industries or Worker's compensation claims.  WA and FL massage therapists are able to become contracted providers with major medical providers such as Blue Shield and Blue Cross.   While this is a mixed blessing and filled with many ethical and legal issues, it is important to know how to work with these companies.

Each insurance company in each state, city, county and town, have various procedures that need to be followed in order to get paid.  Each person and situation is different and may require different procedures. There is no way that one person could know all the things you need to know to get paid.  There are some common procedures like using a HCFA 1500 form to submit the bill.

My purpose in writing this manual is to show massage therapists how to work with insurance companies so they can quickly see that this is an issue that has much controversy surrounding it.  Do we even really want to be taking insurance as a profession.  (see my guest editorial in Massage Magazine Nov/Dec 2005)

 Each massage therapist needs to understand the insurance industry terms so that they can know just what to ask each client, insurance company, physician and lawyer in order to get paid!  

Asking is the key to getting paid!

• Will accepting insurance make your business more profitable?

• What to charge for your services

• What you need to know about Motor Vehicle Accidents 

• What you need to know about Labor & Industries/Workmans compensation

• How to Fill Out a HCFA form

• What CPT codes to use

• How to get the ICD-9 code and what do they mean (list of common ICD-9 codes)

• What questions do you need to ask all parties involved

• What to do if you don't get paid

• Forms -  ICD-9 codes, Insurance Benefits verification form, Track insurance company communications, Intake forms, Physicians’ referral/prescription ,Insurance Billing and payment Tracking, Progress Report

Let me know if you have any problems, questions, comments or feedback!

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Thanks!  Happy Billing! 

And when you realize how much of a problem billing insurance companies is you can find out more on how to build a successful practice taking only CASH clients at www.massagepracticebuilder.com

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