Canadian-Registered Massage Therapist on Celebrity

[NorthernOntario]

I was wondering if anyone can answer this for me..Last time my husband and I were on the Summit, we had a massage. We asked whether it was done by a registered therapist so that we could claim it through our work benefits for reimbursement. I was told that we could as long as we have the therapist number. I submitted a receipt with the therapists number, hand written on the top of my receipt, and it was not approved.

My question is, is there anyone out there who has had success claiming their massage? or other treatment? What process did you take?

I did do a search already on the subject and I only found one post dating back to 2011 who had the same problem I did on our first cruise.

 

Thanks!

[Kartgv]

Wow - I'm just impressed that you have insurance that would cover a massage therapist. That's never been an option for us with any insurance we've had; the best we can do is a limited number of physical therapy visits (forget whether the cap is # of visits or total $ charged), though those may include massage as part of the therapy plan.

[lucywestie]

Canadian here also with probably very similar benefits to you. Im thinking they probably refused the claim because its probably extremely hard for the benefits provider to check if the RMT is actually a registered therapist (especially if they are from another country).

 

I know when I have claimed we get an official receipt on headed paper etc. and then just submit an online claim with the RMT's info. I imagine its extremely easy for a provider to check registration within Canada v those from outside the country.

 

I had talked about doing this to someone I know who has taken way more cruises than me and they thought it was a long shot that our provider would cover such a claim.

[2theship]

Considering that a cruise ship massage costs twice as much as a land based massage therapist, it may be difficult to get reimbursed. If you need it for therapeutic reasons, wouldn't it be better to have the service closer to home?

[bebe08]

Another Canadian here. My employee benefits plan also include massage therapy up to what the insurance company deems a reasonable and customary amount per massage (anything over this amount you pay yourself) , as well as an annual cap. The plan stipulates the massage must be performed by an RMT and done in Canada. So even if performed by a RMT on the cruise, it would not be reimbursed since it is outside of Canada.

[NorthernOntario]

Wow - I'm just impressed that you have insurance that would cover a massage therapist. That's never been an option for us with any insurance we've had; the best we can do is a limited number of physical therapy visits (forget whether the cap is # of visits or total $ charged), though those may include massage as part of the therapy plan.

 

Yes we are very lucky to have the coverage. Both my husband and I have it which is an added bonus :)

[NorthernOntario]

Another Canadian here. My employee benefits plan also include massage therapy up to what the insurance company deems a reasonable and customary amount per massage (anything over this amount you pay yourself) , as well as an annual cap. The plan stipulates the massage must be performed by an RMT and done in Canada. So even if performed by a RMT on the cruise, it would not be reimbursed since it is outside of Canada.

 

I didn't know that it had to be done in Canada. That makes sense. When I had originally asked our rep. at work about it, I don't believe they knew that it had to be performed here as well. Thanks!

[NorthernOntario]

Considering that a cruise ship massage costs twice as much as a land based massage therapist, it may be difficult to get reimbursed. If you need it for therapeutic reasons, wouldn't it be better to have the service closer to home?

 

Yes, it is much easier to get a massage closer to home but its such a treat to get one the ship. Yes, I do have a doctors note for it but at home there is such little time.

[NorthernOntario]

Canadian here also with probably very similar benefits to you. Im thinking they probably refused the claim because its probably extremely hard for the benefits provider to check if the RMT is actually a registered therapist (especially if they are from another country).

 

I know when I have claimed we get an official receipt on headed paper etc. and then just submit an online claim with the RMT's info. I imagine its extremely easy for a provider to check registration within Canada v those from outside the country.

 

I had talked about doing this to someone I know who has taken way more cruises than me and they thought it was a long shot that our provider would cover such a claim.

 

Uggg...That's too bad. It was a long shot...I know..it sounds like no one has ever had luck. Especially if it has to be done in Canada. I was unaware of that part.

[gold1953]

Canadian here too and tried to submit one from Cuba as well as one from a ship . The service must be in Canada. The same for our other services like physio, osteo, chiro, naturopath. They need to be registered in Canada