Chelsea has yet again unlocked a life hack for the massage benefit. If you are on Young Life benefits, make use of this!
From Chelsea:
1. To file a claim, you need a new doctor’s note every year. I didn’t realize my note had been written over a year ago so two claims were denied. I reached out to my doc and asked her to write a note that retroactively covered the gap when I didn’t have a note and she did it. Even though the note was written in September, she said to cover May 2026 – May 2027 and that worked when I appealed.
2. Massage Envy does work, but you need an insurance receipt & a form that has the therapist’s license number. Massage Envy made a note in my file to email all of this to me every time I come in for a massage, so it’s just as easy as any other super billing.
3. Here’s where we get into the actual total cost of the massage — Massage Envy is considered out of network and UMR will only cover 70% of the massage. The monthly massage with ME is $85 so $59.50 is covered and $25.50 is out of pocket (plus I pay a $20 tip). While most people would see that and prefer to go elsewhere to have 100% covered, here’s where I think it’s cheaper to do ME. Young Life covers up to $100 max per visit. That said, I used to go to a lady that charged $130 per visit (which is pretty standard for an hour). So I’d still pay $30 out of pocket, AND the tip would be higher ($26) if I tip at 20%. So I either end up spending $56 to go to a therapist In-Network, or I pay $45.50 to go to Massage Envy, which is out-of-network. And the great thing about Massage Envy is that I can try out different therapists to find the one I like, I have more flexibility for it to work with my schedule (especially if I need to cancel/switch things around / book last minute), and I can go to a Massage Envy when I’m out of town rather than having to wait till I get back.
Looks like we all need to get massages now. Questions? Reach out to Chelsea- chelseahugel@gmail.com
Leave a Reply