So, you have a Health Savings Account or a Flexible Spending Account through your employer, but may not know entirely how you want to stretch the benefits this year. You might be curious about whether your insurance plan covers massages, particularly if you can pay for them using a Health Savings Account (HSA) or Flexible Spending Account (FSA). This is possible, read more below about how it actually works.

What is an HSA?

A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a pre-tax savings account for individuals with eligible high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) to pay for qualified medical expenses for yourself, your spouse, or eligible dependents. What is qualified depends on the plan, but can include medications, many medical items that can be purchased at a pharmacy, preventative and emergency healthcare, dental, and vision costs. 

Both the growth and withdrawals from this savings account are tax-free as long as they are utilized for qualified medical expenses, such as holistic healthcare (aka, what an HSA massage can commonly be qualified under).

Approach to Use Your HSA for a Massage

To take advantage of an HSA massage, you do need to prepare in advance before booking appointments. Here’s the four-step process to ensure you’re covered. 

Speak with Human Resources 

Review with your Human Resources representative any specific clarifying steps regarding gaining coverage for a massage under your insurance. Commonly, this will be a letter of medical necessity (LMN) from your physician. An LMN states what condition the holistic treatment should be administered for, the quantity of sessions required, and any other pertinent details to ensure coverage for your condition. 

Doctor Visit

Once you have received approval from your insurance carrier, schedule an appointment with your primary care physician. The best way to go in is with an ounce of preparation. What conditions do you have that could benefit from massage therapy? Document research to back up your claims to have a productive conversation during your appointment. Come to this appointment with the correct intentions, as the purpose of your health insurance is to cover your medical expenses, and massage therapy is beneficial for a variety of conditions. 

Receive Your Prescription

Once you receive confirmation from your physician, they can write the prescription for regular massages. For your insurance plan, this is your proof that you need an HSA massage to treat your condition. 

This prescription is a directive that should include the following:

• Your reasoning for needing massage therapy, such as a medical condition or injury.
• The quantity of sessions you will need every month. This frequency will determine how many massages you can have covered a month. 
• A duration of time for a massage holistic treatment. This could be as specific as 60-minute, 90-minute, or 120-minute massages.

Getting a prescription is not something you should be afraid of. In the age of telehealth, your primary care provider likely can see you over the phone or virtually to write this prescription.

Document, Document, Document

This isn’t meant to be laborious, you just need to keep your receipts somewhere come tax time. When it comes to tax season for the following year, refer to the IRS’ comprehensive list of expenses that they classify as “medical expenses.”

We keep this easy for you at Soothe. To request a receipt for a previous appointment, please download the Soothe app and follow the instructions below:

1. Sign in to your Soothe account.
2. Select the Bookings tab at the bottom of the home screen.
3. Next, select the appropriate appointment.
4. Located under the Payment Info section, select Get Receipt.

Once this option is selected, an email receipt will be automatically sent to the email address associated with your Soothe account.

If you forget to do this until tax time, we can still generate the receipt for your usage.

What is an FSA?

A Flexible Spending Account (FSA) is a special account that you can set up through your job to fund healthcare costs, like doctor visits, medicine, and other medical expenses (aka, what an FSA massage can commonly be qualified under). You put money into this account before your taxes are taken out, which is typically handled by your employer’s payroll. Some may also add money to your FSA. When you have a medical expense, you submit a claim to your FSA with proof that you paid for it, and then you receive your money back from the account.

Approach to Use Your FSA for a Massage

To take advantage of an FSA massage, you do need to prepare in advance before booking appointments. Just getting a massage for general wellness is not an FSA-approved expense. Here’s the four-step process to ensure you’re covered. 

Speak with Human Resources 

Review with your Human Resources representative any specific clarifying steps regarding gaining coverage for insurance-accepted massage therapy. Massage therapy generally falls under the classification of “general health” with FSA plans, which can be a service that provides a boost to a person’s overall wellness but is not a vital treatment to alleviate a particular medical condition. Commonly, this will be a letter of medical necessity (LMN) from your physician. An LMN states what condition the holistic treatment should be administered for, the quantity of sessions required, and any other pertinent details to ensure coverage for your condition. Even with an LMN, your FSA administrator could choose to deny the claim. Before taking this route, speak with your FSA administrator to clarify coverage. General massages and spa treatments are generally not covered.

Doctor Visit

Once you have received approval from your FSA administrator, schedule an appointment with your primary care physician. The best way to go in is with a bit of preparation. What conditions do you have that could benefit from massage therapy? Document research to back up your claims to have a productive conversation during your appointment. Come to this appointment with the correct intentions, as the purpose of your health insurance is to cover your medical expenses, and massage therapy is beneficial for a variety of conditions. 

Receive Your Prescription

Once you receive confirmation from your physician, they can prescribe regular massages. For your insurance plan, this is your proof that you need an FSA massage to treat your condition. 

This prescription is an outline that should include the following:

• Your reasoning for needing massage therapy, such as a medical condition or injury.
• The quantity of sessions you will need every month. This frequency will determine how many massages you can have covered a month. 
• A duration of time for a massage holistic treatment. This could be as specific as 60-minute, 90-minute, or 120-minute massages.

This prescription will likely need to be reviewed and renewed with each calendar year. Getting a prescription is not something you should be afraid of. In the age of telehealth, your primary care provider likely can see you over the phone or virtually to write this prescription.

Document, Document, Document

This isn’t meant to be laborious, you just need to keep your receipts somewhere come tax time. When it comes to tax season for the following year, refer to the IRS’ comprehensive list of expenses that they classify as “medical expenses.”

We keep this easy for you at Soothe. To request a receipt for a previous appointment, please download the Soothe app and follow the instructions below:

1. Sign in to your Soothe account.
2. Select the Bookings tab at the bottom of the home screen.
3. Next, select the appropriate appointment.
4. Located under the Payment Info section, select Get Receipt.

Once this option is selected, an email receipt will be automatically sent to the email address associated with your Soothe account.

If you forget to do this until tax time, we can still generate the receipt for your usage.

Savings Potential on Leveraging an FSA for Massages:

By leveraging your FSA, for example, the savings will vary by your area and annual household income. Follow us through a quick example calculated with this FSA calculator here using our Restore SoothePass Plan:

Location: Denver, Colorado*

Annual FSA Contribution with SoothePass: $1,728

Annual FSA Savings with SoothePass: $460 (26.6% in savings!)

SoothePass® is a monthly membership program offering discounted rates on a variety of self-care services, including massages.

*The Denver example is based on a median $85,853 household income.

How to Get the Most from Your FSA Coverage for a Massage:

Above all, documentation is the most important aspect to consider here. Over time, leveraging your FSA or HSA for a massage will save you time and money. Not only can you keep yourself healthy, but your finances can stay healthy too.

Stuck on how often you should get a massage? It depends on your condition and lifestyle, but we suggest anywhere between biweekly and monthly for our most active customers for overall maintenance. Overall, it depends on the individual. Some people wait until after medical injuries or surgeries to get a massage, and others need something a bit more frequent to keep themselves in the best shape they possibly can be in.

If you’re looking for a massage therapist near you that accepts insurance, look no further than Soothe! Our top-rated, independent professional massage therapists are available in your area. Book a massage appointment with Soothe today.