Co-Pays, Co-Insurance and DeductiblesRegarding P.I.P. and Insurance used for Massage TherapyUnderstand that there are important rules to abide by if insurance is used as a reimbursement method for massage therapy in Florida. Penalties for deviating from these rules can be severe. These rules apply to co-pays and co-insurance for massage therapy just as they do for any other reimbursable healthcare service. Under Florida Statue (F.S.) 817.234-7(a)
it is now a third degree FELONY for any healthcare provider to routinely waive co-pays, co-insurance and deductibles as a routine or up front business practice. Therefore, in keeping in the law, I will expect payment of all charges for which your insurance plan deems you are responsible to pay. Think of it this way: You wouldn’t want me to be the type of massage therapist that would LIE TO YOU, would you? So, I’d think you wouldn’t want me to be the type of massage therapist that would LIE FOR YOU, either. Remember, Florida P.I.P. insurance only pays 80% of your covered medical expenses. You are responsible for the remaining 20%. For your massage therapy with me, that’s generally a $20 co-pay per visit. And over the course of treatment, I agree, multiple $20 charges can add up. So what is the solution? Simple. It called MED PAY (medical payments) and after thinking about it a bit, I’ll believe you will realize that the purchase of MED PAY to your car insurance is a “No Brainer”. Again, if you are injured in an automobile accident, your Florida PIP insurance gives you $10,000 of coverage to pay for medical bills associated with the recovery of that injury accident. Luckily for us in the state of Florida, PIP insurance pays for massage therapy, but only at 80% of each massage therapy session. You’ll still be responsible to come up with the remaining 20%, so out of $10,000 of treatment, you’ll have paid upwards of $2,000. But if you had purchased $2,000 of MED PAY (medical payments), that provision of your insurance policy would pay the 20% co-pay/co-insurance for each session. You would not have to pay anything out-of-pocket for each of those massage therapy sessions. Yes, MED PAY does increase your overall insurance premium, but not much. For myself, I added $2,000 of medical payments to my automobile insurance policy for less that $10 per six month renewal. That’s less than $20 per year, and in another way to look at it, less than the cost of ONE CO-PAY of a medically-prescribed massage therapy session. Like I said, it’s a no brainer. Sean Slovik (321) 725-2438
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