Use It or Lose It: How to Claim Your Massage Benefits Before December 31
By Ramsey Rumig, RMT | Blue Mountain Wellness | October 2026
Every December I get the same message, usually around the 18th.
"Do you have anything before the end of the year? I just realized I have $500 of massage coverage left."
By then the honest answer is usually no. Weekends around here fill with ski traffic and holiday visitors, and the week between Christmas and New Year's disappears fast. So consider this post me sending that message back to you in October, while there is still time to use your coverage properly.
Is massage covered by insurance in Ontario?
In most cases, yes. Most extended health plans in Ontario cover massage therapy when it is provided by a Registered Massage Therapist. OHIP does not. Coverage usually comes as a yearly dollar maximum or a set number of visits, and some plans still ask for a doctor's referral. The only way to know for sure is to check your own plan.
Open your insurer's app or member site and look for "massage therapy" or "paramedical services." You are looking for five things:
- Your annual maximum and how much of it you have already used
- A per-visit cap, since some plans only reimburse up to a set amount per session
- The percentage covered, which is often 80 or 100 percent
- Whether a referral is required
- Your spouse's or partner's coverage, if they have their own plan
That last one gets missed constantly. If you are both covered, you may have two balances to use, not one.
Why the letters RMT matter for your claim
In Ontario, massage therapy is a regulated health profession. Only people registered with the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario can call themselves a Registered Massage Therapist or a massage therapist. Insurers generally reimburse treatment from a registered therapist, which is why a massage from an unregistered provider often can't be claimed.
You can check anyone's registration on the CMTO public register. [2] It takes about thirty seconds, and I'd encourage you to do it for us or for anyone else you book with.
What has to be on your RMT receipt
The CMTO sets out exactly what a massage therapy receipt needs for insurance purposes. [1] Six things:
- The date of the appointment
- Your name
- The name of the RMT
- The amount paid
- The RMT's signature and registration number
- The HST number, where applicable
The service is listed as "Massage Therapy treatment." If a receipt is missing the registration number, that is the most common reason a claim bounces.
One detail people don't expect: if you paid with a gift certificate, your treatment receipt will show the certificate redeemed at $0.00. CMTO's guidance is to submit both the gift certificate receipt and the treatment receipt, and your insurer decides whether to cover it. [1]
Every Blue Mountain Wellness receipt is emailed the same day and includes all six items.
> "Unused massage coverage does not roll over. It quietly disappears on January 1."
Does your benefit year actually end December 31?
Many plans run on the calendar year and reset on January 1. Some reset on a policy anniversary instead, often tied to when your employer first set up the plan. Look for "benefit year" or "plan year" in your booklet. If yours resets in June, your deadline is June, and you have more breathing room than you thought.
One big session or a few smaller ones?
Here is where I'd rather be honest than sell you the biggest booking.
The largest meta-analysis of massage research, by Moyer, Rounds and Hannum, found that a single session reduced state anxiety, blood pressure and heart rate. The larger effects, on longer-term anxiety and mood, came from a course of treatment rather than one appointment. [3]
So if you have the balance, spreading it across a few sessions is usually a better use of it than one marathon visit in the last week of December.
For a sense of the math: a 60-minute session is $155 plus HST ($175.15) and a 90-minute session is $225 plus HST ($254.25). A $500 balance covers one of each, with a little left over. Check your per-visit cap first, since it can be lower than the session fee. Full session lengths and rates are listed on our Services and FAQ page.
Your year-end benefits checklist
1. Check your balance today. Yours, and your partner's if they have a plan.
2. Confirm your reset date and whether you need a referral. If you need one, get it now, not on December 20.
3. Book before December. Midweek slots are much easier to find than weekends, especially once the hills open.
4. Book the household at once. We are three RMTs, so we can run tables side by side and treat a couple or family in the same visit. Each person gets their own receipt for their own plan.
5. Submit your receipt the same day. It's in your inbox before we've packed the table.
Book before the year runs out
We come to you anywhere in Collingwood, The Blue Mountains, Thornbury, Meaford, Kimberley and Wasaga Beach: your home, cottage, chalet or rental. We bring the table, the linens and everything else. All you need is about six feet by eight feet of floor. If you have questions before you book, our FAQ covers the practical details.
If you have coverage sitting there, now is the time to use it. Book online through Jane, or read what actually happens at a mobile massage appointment first.
Ramsey
Blue Mountain Wellness | Mobile Massage Therapy, Collingwood, Thornbury and The Blue Mountains, ON
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Sources and References
[1] College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. What is Required on a Massage Therapy Receipt to Submit to Insurance. cmto.com
[2] College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. Public Register of Registered Massage Therapists. cmto.com
[3] Moyer CA, Rounds J, Hannum JW (2004). A meta-analysis of massage therapy research. Psychological Bulletin, 130(1), 3 to 18. Retrieved via PubMed. DOI: [10.1037/0033-2909.130.1.3](https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.1.3)
