BC Medical Services Plan
Medical Services Plan of BC (MSP) funding for acupuncture treatment is available for people receiving premium assistance. Not sure if you qualify for coverage? Don’t worry, we will confirm this for you and let you know how many treatments you have remaining for the year. Please bring your care card or personal health number with you to your initial appointment.A doctor’s referral is NOT required.
MSP pays for a combined annual limit of 10 visits for acupuncture treatment, massage therapy, physiotherapy, chiropractic, naturopathy and non-surgical podiatry. MSP covers $23.00 per visit and for your convenience, we bills MSP directly. You are charged for the balance of your treatment fees.
Extended Health Benefits
Extended health benefits vary from plan to plan and usually coverage for acupuncture therapy is between 70-100% of treatment fees. Some plans offer a dollar amount per year instead of a percentage.
Please check your benefits booklet or contact your insurance provider in order to be clear on the details of your coverage.
To receive Extended Health Benefits insurance reimbursement, please submit your receipts to your provider directly. We recommend that you submit your receipts regularly – each 3 months or so is a good habit to get into.
Direct Billing
We are happy to bill your insurance provider directly so that you do not have to pay out of pocket or deal with the paper work.
Once your insurance has been confirmed, all you have to do is pay the balance of your fee (depending on your individual plan).
Who offers direct billing?
Offered through TELUS Health eClaims:
- Chambers of Commerce Group Insurance Plan
- Cowan
- Desjardins Insurance
- The Great West Life Assurance Company
- GroupHEALTH
- GroupSource
- Industrial Alliance Financial Group
- Johnson
- Johnston Group
- Manion
- Manulife
- Maximum Benefit
- Standard Life
- Sun Life Financial
Offered Independently:
- Alberta Blue Cross
- Greenshield Canada
- Medavie Blue Cross
- Pacific Blue Cross
- Saskatchewan Blue Cross
What We Need:
- The name of your Provider, Policy Number and ID Number.
- Your relationship to the Policy Holder (Self, Spouse, Parent, etc.).
- If you have Secondary Coverage from a spouse / parent / etc.
*We will only bill directly to one insurance company at a time except Pacific Blue Cross. If you are covered by your own as well as a family’s plan, we must claim to your own personal plan first and then claim on the alternate plan.
*In some cases (rarely), claim results or responses are not available immediately and may take 1- 2 weeks to receive confirmation. If this happens, we require your credit card information for back-up payment.
*Each plan has different policies and restrictions. Some require a doctor’s note for acupuncture treatment while others do not allow for direct billing online. We encourage all of our patients to check with their providers before coming in to ensure that they are eligible for acupuncture.
*Please submit your receipts to your insurance provider directly if they don’t accept direct billing. We always issue a receipt after each treatment so that you can submit your claim and get reimbursed.