Wiki Medicare and Massage therapy by a chiropractor

[c7hill]

Does medicare cover massage therapy when performed in a Chiropractor's office? If not, should I code it with a modifier -GA or -GZ (with an ABN on file) so that medicare will allow it to be billable to the patient? The patient has a secondary policy which will cover the massage therapy if coded by medicare to allow the patient to be billed for the service. The medicare website indicates 97124 is a billable service, but I'm not certain if it's covered when provided in a chiropractor's office. Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[member7]

To my knowledge, Medicare does not cover massage when billed under a chiropractor's Medicare number. You would need to bill the appropriate code for massage and append a GA modifier (indicating that the patient understands that they are responsible for payment of the service) and submit the claim for denial.