How Medical Insurance Works for Bodywork and Why It Helps to Think of It Like Dental Insurance
Medical insurance can be confusing, especially when it comes to chiropractic care, physical therapy, and hands-on bodywork. Many patients assume insurance is either “covered” or “not covered,” or that it determines what kind of care they receive.
In reality, insurance works very differently than most people realize.
A more accurate and far less frustrating way to think about medical insurance for bodywork is this:
It functions much more like dental insurance than full medical coverage.
In other words, it acts more like a cost-sharing benefit or coupon than a true reflection of the value of care.
Why Insurance Feels So Inconsistent for Bodywork
Most medical doctors and dentists are trained to diagnose disease, manage pathology, and intervene with medications or procedures. Musculoskeletal pain, especially pain involving the head, neck, jaw, shoulders, and upper back, often lives in a gray zone between specialties.
Chiropractic care, physical therapy, and clinical bodywork exist in that space. Insurance companies do recognize the value of this type of care, which is why many plans currently contribute toward treatment. But they do so cautiously, with strict limits, time caps, and frequent policy changes.
At the moment, many plans through Regence BlueCross BlueShield, MODA, and PacificSource cover a significant portion of comprehensive chiropractic and rehabilitative bodywork when it is deemed medically necessary.
However, this level of coverage is not guaranteed and historically, it does not last.
Insurance Coverage Changes (And Not in Your Favor)
Over the past several years, many insurance companies have steadily reduced benefits and reimbursements for hands-on care. This isn’t unique to chiropractic, it’s part of a broader cost-cutting strategy across healthcare.
We’ve already seen this happen with:
Providence
Cigna plans
Aetna
In these cases, coverage that once supported meaningful care was reduced, capped, or eliminated altogether.
Other insurers, such as Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare, are often highly restrictive from the start by frequently denying services, downgrading billed care, or approving only the most minimal treatment regardless of clinical need.
These decisions are not based on what works best for patients. They are driven by internal policies, utilization algorithms, and profit margins.
So What Does This Mean for You as a Patient?
It means insurance should be viewed as a benefit that helps offset the cost of care, not the authority that defines it.
Just like dental insurance:
It may cover a portion of each visit
It may cap the number of visits per year
It may change without warning
It rarely reflects the true cost or value of the service
Dental patients intuitively understand this. Very few people expect dental insurance to “fully cover” comprehensive care. They expect it to help and they plan accordingly.
Bodywork and rehabilitative care function the same way.
Why This Reframing Matters
When insurance is treated as the primary decision-maker, care becomes rushed, fragmented, and frustrating for both patients and providers. Visit lengths shrink, treatment becomes formulaic, and the focus shifts from outcomes to compliance with billing rules.
By reframing insurance as a supporting benefit, several important things happen:
Care can stay focused and intentional
Visits can be structured efficiently
Treatment decisions are based on your needs, not billing limits
You retain more control over your healthcare choices
If your insurance contributes significantly? Great.
If it contributes partially? Still helpful.
When it changes in the future? Now you won’t be caught off guard!
The Bottom Line
Insurance is a tool, not a guarantee.
Right now, many plans do contribute meaningfully toward chiropractic care and bodywork and we apply those benefits whenever appropriate. But insurance companies continue to narrow coverage, reduce reimbursements, and shift costs onto patients.
Understanding this ahead of time allows you to make clearer, calmer decisions about your care without frustration or false expectations.
Our goal is to provide thoughtful, effective care that makes sense for your body while using insurance as a benefit when it helps, not a limitation when it doesn’t.
