Health Insurance for Remedial Massage

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What is remedial massage?

Does health insurance cover remedial massage?

Are there waiting periods for remedial massage?

Does Medicare cover remedial massage?

How do I choose extras health insurance if I want cover for remedial massages?

Where can I find and compare health insurance?

Long story short

Remedial massages can be part of a broader health care treatment plan

For instance, your physiotherapist or chiropractor might recommend them.

Medicare doesn’t cover remedial massages, but your health insurance can

You’ll need an extras policy that includes remedial massages and to see a recognised provider.

How much you get back on remedial massages depends on your cover

Check your policy documents for any annual limits, as well as your expected benefit from each remedial massage.

What is remedial massage?

If you aren’t already familiar with massages, we reckon that’s a good enough reason to go out and get one right now.

During a massage, a therapist rubs and presses your muscles and soft tissue to help give you some relief from certain symptoms. Sometimes the therapist uses a gentle touch, almost like the kiss of a fairy’s wing; other times, they might put their whole body into it, so you feel like you’ve been tackled by a professional football player.

Remedial massages are just one kind of massage. They’re often used as a complementary therapy (that’s the pairing kind of ‘complement’, not the ‘Oh, you look nice today’ kind of ‘compliment’). For instance, if you see a physiotherapist or chiropractor, they might recommend regular remedial massages between sessions.

After all, remedial massages can help increase your blood flow and joint mobility. If you’re seeing another health professional for stiff joints, back pain, or sore muscles, getting those joints and blood moving could help with your recovery and overall wellbeing.

Other kinds of massage, like therapeutic massages or sports massages, might also be helpful, depending on your needs. Or they might simply help you relax after a stressful week.

Does health insurance cover remedial massage?

Your extras policy can certainly cover remedial massages, but if you’re worried about your eligibility for a rebate, you’ll need to check whether:

• your health insurance policy includes remedial massage
• your health fund recognises the remedial massage therapist you see
• you haven’t already used up your policy’s limits for remedial massages.

That second point is about more than spotting your massage therapist in the supermarket and thinking, ‘They look familiar.’ Here, it refers to the health fund accrediting your remedial massage practitioner as a provider. Different health funds have different accreditation requirements, but they can include your masseur holding certain appropriate qualifications and being a member of a relevant professional association, like the Massage Association of Australia.

And what about those limits? Well, unlike hospital cover, extras cover comes with limits. These limits mean you can only claim up to a certain amount or percentage back on a service until the limit resets. Conveniently, your limits usually reset annually, including for remedial massages.

Helpful tip

Extras cover can make it easier to access different healthcare services by helping cover the cost of your visit. But keep in mind that you’ll likely have some out-of-pocket costs, too.

Usually, private health funds only cover a certain dollar amount or percentage of the service fee, but you might be able to find no-gap options for some things, like general dental.

Andres Gutierrez

General Manager – Health

Are there waiting periods for remedial massage?

A waiting period is how long you’ll need to have your health insurance policy before you can start claiming. Waiting periods on extras cover can be different depending on the service and even the health fund.

However, it’s pretty common to see a two-month waiting period for remedial massage. If you’re lucky, you might get this waiting period waived by the insurer as a thank you for becoming one of their newest members.

Does Medicare cover remedial massage?

Medicare is a big part of the Australian health system, but it doesn’t cover everything. Case in point, remedial massage is off the table. The same goes for some other services that an extras health insurance policy could cover, like major dental and optical services.

How do I choose extras health insurance if I want cover for remedial massages?

If you’re thinking about health insurance – for remedial massages or something else – a great place to start is with your health needs, including any current health problems. This helps you get an idea of what you need from your private health cover.

In this case, are there other extras services, like physiotherapy or chiropractic treatment, you could use? Understanding this can give you a framework for what you want your extras policy to include.

Now, how often would you need to use these services, and would it be just you or could the whole family make the most of them? This helps you figure out what limits could work for you.

Don’t forget to give some thought to more practical considerations, too. For instance, you want a policy premium that works for your budget, while also factoring in the money you can claim back.

Similarly, it’s all well and good to have the perfect extras policy, but if there are no recognised providers nearby or with any availability, you might as well not have it.

Where can I find and compare health insurance?

We get it – for most people, their idea of a good time isn’t looking through health insurance policies. But we’re more than happy to help out! iSelect makes it easy to compare a range of extras health insurance options in a matter of minutes. You can get it done and dusted with our online comparison tool, or call 1800 784 772 and let our health insurance comparison experts sort it out.