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How to compare health insurance for remedial massage with Canstar?

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Guide to health insurance for remedial massage

What is remedial massage?

Remedial massage is a type of therapy that is used to help treat muscles that are knotted, tense, stiff or damaged, according to the Australian Natural Therapies Association. Remedial massage may also help with other conditions affecting the muscles, tendons or ligaments, and is a common therapeutic technique in sports medicine.

Healthdirect, the Australian national virtual public health information service, says remedial massage may be sought for neck, shoulder or back pain, chronic pain or sports injuries. as well as for a broad range of other purposes.


What is the difference between remedial massage and other types of massage?

Remedial massage is a therapeutic technique aimed towards treating the body through medical massage techniques, making it different from other kind of massage, such as relaxation massage.

According to the Association of Massage Therapists, remedial massage can assist in rehabilitation, pain and injury management. It can also involve a range of manual therapy techniques, such as deep connective tissue massage and trigger point therapy.


What health insurance policies cover remedial massage?

Remedial massage is covered under most health insurance extras policies. You can take out extras health insurance policies on its own or combined with hospital cover.

It’s worth noting that private health insurers are no longer able to cover certain natural therapies. For example, insurers can no longer cover pilates, yoga and naturopathy. However, remedial massage was not affected by this change.


Is remedial massage covered by Medicare?

Medicare does not cover remedial massage. Medicare covers some hospital, medical and pharmaceutical health care costs. For example, it covers the cost of seeing a GP or specialist and getting tests and scans, such as x-rays. It generally does not cover certain costs such as dental, physiotherapy, chiropractic or massage. These are instead covered by private health insurance. Remedial massage is usually covered under extras health insurance.


FAQs about Health insurance for remedial massage

According to Healthdirect Australia, remedial massage health benefits can include:

  • stimulating blood supply
  • making joints more mobile
  • helping to repair damaged tissues
  • balancing the length, tone and tension of muscles and tendons
  • restoring the correct position of the bones
  • increasing blood flow
  • helping to heal injuries.

Wider health problems that may be treated with remedial massage include sporting injuries, muscle cramps, whiplash, muscular atrophy, fibrositis, spondylitis and arthritis.

Headaches, abdominal pain, low back pain and sciatic pain can also be improved by easing and stabilising the muscles, according to Healthdirect Australia.

If you already have a private health insurance policy in place but aren’t sure if you’re covered for remedial massage, it’s always best to contact the health insurance provider directly to ask.

Some remedial massage practices may have a HICAPS machine, which they could use to provide you with a quote if you have your health insurance card with you. The quote provided from the HICAPS machine should be able to tell you if you are covered for the practice’s services and whether you’ll have to pay a gap fee. If the quote states the full amount would need to be paid, you are either not covered or have used up to the policy limit.

When you take out health insurance for remedial massage, you will likely have to serve a waiting period before you can make a claim. Waiting periods will vary between health funds, but are typically around 2 months for remedial massage. 

In some cases, you may be able to waive your waiting periods, such as special promotional offers, or if you’re changing policy from a higher level of cover.

About our health insurance experts

Josh Malin was a Finance Writer with the Canstar Editorial Team. Josh started his career in print media, featured in The Advertiser, The Sunday Mail and SA Weekend Magazine. At Canstar he covered everything from utilities and streaming services to insurance and personal finance. Before joining Canstar, Josh worked in the comparison industry where he wrote about health and life insurance. Josh has a Bachelor of Communications, majoring in Professional Writing from Flinders University.

Mark Bristow is an experienced analyst, researcher, and producer, and was previously a Senior Finance Writer at Canstar. While primarily focused on Australian mortgage and home loan expertise, he has experience across energy, home and travel insurances. Mark has been a journalist and writer in the financial space for over 10 years, previously researching and writing commercial real estate at CoreLogic. He's also worked for the Winning Group, Expedia, and has seen articles published at Lifehacker and Business Insider. Mark has also completed RG 146 (Tier 1), making him compliant to provide general advice for general insurance products like car, home, travel and health insurance, as well as giving him knowledge of investment options such as shares, derivatives, futures, managed investments, currencies and commodities. Find Mark on Linkedin.

Important Information

For those that love the detail

This advice is general and has not taken into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider whether this advice is right for you.