EmblemHealth does not cover massage therapy as a standard benefit on any of its individual, family, employer-sponsored, or government-program plans. Members can get up to 25% off therapeutic massage through a separate, non-insurance program called Healthy Discounts, but the sessions themselves are paid out of pocket.
What EmblemHealth Excludes
EmblemHealth groups massage therapy with holistic treatments it does not cover, alongside aromatherapy and nutritional therapy. The insurer also excludes life coaching, career coaching, hypnosis, ketamine treatments, and psychedelic treatments.1Zencare. EmblemHealth Insurance Coverage
The exclusion runs across plan types. Massage therapy does not appear in the 2025 Essential Plan benefit summary, including under “Other Covered Services.”2EmblemHealth. Essential Plan 4 Summary of Benefits and Coverage The GHI CBP plan offered to City of New York employees doesn’t include it either.3Baruch College Human Resources. EmblemHealth Healthy Discounts For 2026, none of EmblemHealth’s Medicare Advantage plans list massage therapy among their supplemental benefits.4EmblemHealth. Medicare Advantage Plans
One narrow exception exists. EmblemHealth’s Special Services for Children program lists massage therapy as a component of palliative care under Children’s Home and Community Based Services, where it falls under pain and symptom management for children with chronic or life-threatening illnesses.5EmblemHealth. Special Services for Children Outside that program, adults and children in standard plans will not see massage therapy covered.
The Healthy Discounts Program
All EmblemHealth members can save up to 25% on therapeutic massage through the Healthy Discounts program.3Baruch College Human Resources. EmblemHealth Healthy Discounts The same program offers similar savings on acupuncture and nutrition counseling.
To use a discount, members visit the website of a participating company and reference their EmblemHealth membership, or show their member ID card to a participating provider. Some discounts are online only.6EmblemHealth. Healthy Discounts Because this isn’t insurance, no claims are filed and the discounted rate is paid out of pocket at the time of service. No referral or prior authorization is needed.
Ways to Lower the Cost
If you want massage therapy and are hoping to use plan benefits or pre-tax dollars, a few routes are worth checking before you pay cash.
- Use the 25% Healthy Discounts rate at a participating provider.
- Ask whether a physician considers soft-tissue manipulation medically necessary for a diagnosed condition. When performed and billed by a physical therapist, the treatment may fall under your plan’s physical therapy benefit, which is covered across EmblemHealth plans with visit limits that vary by plan. The deciding factors are who provides the service and how it’s billed.7EmblemHealth. Physical and Occupational Therapy Program
- Pay with an HSA or FSA. Therapeutic massage can generally be reimbursed through these accounts when a physician provides a prescription or letter of medical necessity documenting the treatment’s purpose.
- File a grievance or appeal if you believe a specific service should be covered under your plan. EmblemHealth posts the forms and instructions for each plan type on its website.8EmblemHealth. Grievances and Appeals
How Related Therapies Are Treated
EmblemHealth covers some hands-on care that members sometimes assume is parallel to massage. Chiropractic care is a covered benefit on plans including GHI HMO, HIP, and EmblemHealth Medicare HMO and PPO, with unlimited visits to network chiropractors subject to medical necessity and plan-specific referral or approval rules.9EmblemHealth. Chiropractic Program Provider Manual
Acupuncture is covered under certain Medicare HMO plans for specific diagnoses such as chemotherapy-related nausea, headache, osteoarthritis, and myofascial pain, when performed by a licensed acupuncturist or physician.10EmblemHealth. Acupuncture Medicare HMO Medical Policy Several 2026 Medicare Advantage plans add acupuncture visits as a supplemental benefit at no cost, with some plans covering 10 visits and others 20.4EmblemHealth. Medicare Advantage Plans Physical therapy is covered across plans, with visit caps that vary; Medicaid and HARP members have no visit limits as of January 2021.11EmblemHealth. Removal of Service Limits for Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Speech Therapy Massage therapy sits outside this framework despite being a licensed profession in New York.
Why New York Doesn’t Require Coverage
No New York law requires health insurers to cover massage therapy, even though massage therapists are licensed under Article 155 of the state Education Law.12New York State Education Department. Massage Therapy Laws, Rules and Regulations – Article 155
Legislation to change that has been introduced repeatedly. Assembly Bill A1628, introduced in January 2025, would amend the insurance law and social services law to require private health insurers and Medicaid to cover non-pharmaceutical pain management treatments, including services from licensed massage therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, and yoga instructors. Nearly identical bills have been introduced in every legislative session since 2017, and each has stalled in the Assembly Insurance Committee.13New York State Senate. Assembly Bill A1628 As of early 2026, A1628 remains in committee with no indication it will reach a floor vote.14New York State Assembly. Assembly Bill A01628 Summary and Memo Until a bill like this becomes law, EmblemHealth members should plan to pay for massage therapy out of pocket, at the discounted rate when possible.