WSMTA Campaign — Help Improve Patient Access to Insurance-Covered Massage Therapy

WSMTA Launches Campaign to Improve Access to Massage Therapy Through Health Insurance

Across Washington State, patients who have health insurance coverage for massage therapy are increasingly encountering difficulties finding licensed massage therapists who accept their insurance. Some patients spend weeks contacting providers, only to discover they are not accepting new insurance patients, have lengthy waiting lists, or are located too far away. Others find a therapist but cannot schedule appointments frequently enough to meet their healthcare needs.

Having massage therapy benefits means little if patients cannot access the care their insurance is supposed to cover.

The Washington State Massage Therapy Association (WSMTA) is launching a campaign encouraging patients who experience these difficulties to submit complaints to the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner (OIC). We are asking LMTs, clinic owners, and clinic managers throughout Washington to help make patients aware of this opportunity and provide them with the documents needed to submit a Complaint.

Why Are Massage Therapy Insurance Networks Inadequate?

Unfortunately, many LMTs have concluded that participating in insurance networks is no longer financially sustainable. Low reimbursement rates, increasing operating expenses, administrative burdens, and other contractual requirements have contributed to LMTs leaving insurance networks or declining to participate. The issue is not simply how many massage therapists appear in an insurance company’s provider directory. The issue is whether patients can actually obtain massage therapy appointments within a reasonable period of time and distance from their homes or workplaces.

Why Patient Complaints Matter

To demonstrate that network inadequacy is a widespread problem, the OIC needs information from patients who have experienced difficulties obtaining care. Patient complaints documenting their difficulties in obtaining adequate care can help the OIC identify patterns, investigate whether insurance companies are maintaining adequate networks, and determine whether corrective action is warranted.

The more patients who document their experiences, the stronger the evidence that inadequate massage therapy networks are a widespread problem rather than isolated incidents.

How LMTs Can Help

WSMTA has prepared two documents to make participation in this campaign as simple as possible.

1. WSMTA Massage Therapy Network Adequacy — LMT Instructions

This one-page document is intended for massage therapists, clinic owners, and clinic managers. It explains the campaign, why patient participation is important, and how LMTs can help.

2. WSMTA Massage Therapy Network Adequacy — Patient Complaint Packet

This packet is intended for patients who have experienced difficulties obtaining massage therapy through their health insurance. It includes a WSMTA complaint form, instructions for submitting a complaint to the OIC, and the OIC’s official complaint form.

The WSMTA complaint form asks patients to document their experiences, including:

How long they spent searching for an available massage therapist.

How many phone calls or emails they made while searching.

How far they had to search or travel to find a provider.

How long they waited for their first appointment.

Whether they could schedule appointments regularly and see the same therapist.

Whether difficulties obtaining consistent treatment affected their care.

These details help establish whether insurance networks are providing meaningful access to massage therapy services.

What We Are Asking LMTs to Do

You do not need to accept insurance to participate in this campaign. LMTs who do not accept insurance may be particularly well positioned to help because they frequently hear from prospective patients who cannot find an available in-network provider.

WSMTA encourages LMTs to:

Print copies of the patient complaint packet and make them available in their Clinics.

Post the patient packet on their websites so patients and prospective patients can access it.

Encourage patients who have experienced difficulties finding available in-network LMTs to submit complaints.

Share this campaign with other LMTs, clinic owners, and professional colleagues

Patients should describe their own experiences accurately and submit their complaints directly to the OIC. Participation is voluntary, and patients should not send completed complaint forms containing personal insurance or medical information to WSMTA.

WSMTA needs your participation. Whether you accept insurance, have stopped accepting insurance, or have never participated in an insurance network, you can help patients make their experiences known.

Please review the attached documents, make the patient complaint packet available, and encourage patients who have experienced difficulties accessing their massage therapy benefits to submit a complaint.

Thank you for helping improve patient access to massage therapy and supporting the future of our profession.

WSMTA Clinical Practices Program

LMT Instructions

Patient Complaint Packet