Alternative Approach
Massage Therapy
Attention! We have relocated our studio to NW Michigan. We no longer service the San Antonio area. Thank you!
HOW TO USE YOUR FSA or HSA OR HRA TO PAY FOR MASSAGES
Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, and Health Reimbursement Accounts cover massages for certain medical treatments. These treatments must be approved and prescribed by a physician.
Usually, our payment system (via PayPal) can accept your HSA /FSA card. Follow these instructions:
1. Get a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN), a prescription, or a Doctor's Statement from your doctor. See below for the instructions (Step 2)
2. Call or text us and let us know that you intend to use your FSA/HSA card for massage. We will get the details of the documentation. YOU MUST LET US KNOW YOU INTEND TO USE YOUR CARD.
3. Bring a backup method of payment to your appointment in the event that the card is rejected.
4. We will email you a detailed receipt.
In the event that your card does not work with us, follow these instructions.
MEDICAL CONDITIONS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has ruled that massage therapy for the sole purpose of tension and stress relief does not qualify as an eligible expense. Examples of medical conditions that qualify include carpal tunnel, back pain, arthritis, fibromyalgia, anxiety, depression and pain management.
HOW TO USE FSA/HSA FOR MASSAGES
1. Call your insurance to see if it is a covered expense.
Many insurance carriers allow up to $500 or 6-8 visits for alternative approaches such as massage, acupuncture, etc. If you are covered, go to step 2. If your insurance does not cover massage, you can continue to step 2, simply knowing that your massage will not have any deductible/copay/etc.
2. Get a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN), or a Doctor's Statement.
Let the doctor know you have an FSA or HSA and are seeking massage therapy as the solution to a medically eligible condition. The physician will then write a LMN or a Doctor's Statment for your massage if s/he deems it to be medically necessary.
The physician MUST provide three pieces of information in the letter:
- Why the massage is medically necessary. Ailments such as chronic low back pain, hypertension, sciatica,
arthritis, and anxiety are all eligible to be treated by massage. (To be prepared, bring proof that massage can
help your condition. A simple google search will provide case studies of people who’ve alleviated similar
symptoms through the power of massage therapy.)
- The number of sessions per month or frequency of your visits. For example, our medical massage program usually requires 60- 120 minutes of targeted massage per week, depending on the severity of your condition.
- The length of treatment. How Our medical massage program suggest 5-8 weeks of treatment to reduce your pain, increase strength, or increase range of motion on the areas of concern.
3. Submit the LMN to your FSA company, and they will reimburse you for your massage. We also provide invoices (and can provide detailed invoices upon request) if you would like to submit it with your LMN. We will bill your program as a full package.
https://fsastore.com/FSA-Eligibility-List/M/Massage-Therapy-E463.aspx