C3 Wellness Spa
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Massage therapy, physical therapy and acupuncture are billable to medical insurance when licensed clinicians perform them. The clinicians at 3001 Hillsborough Street are licensed. Send your plan details and you get a real answer before you book.
The check costs nothing. You owe nothing if the answer is nothing. Call (919) 616-7868, Mon to Fri, 8am to 8pm.
The honest version
Most spa websites say your plan might cover it, then stop. Here is the rest of the sentence.
Four things decide whether a claim can be filed for you, and only one of them is up to us.
That is why no honest business can promise you coverage from a web page. What you can get, in about ten minutes, is a specific answer for your specific plan.
Call (919) 616-7868 with the plan name and the member ID on the front of your card. If the answer is that nothing is covered, you will hear that too, and it costs you nothing.
The important difference
Say at booking that you intend to use insurance. Adding it afterwards rarely works, because the clinical notes have to exist from the first minute of the appointment.
The paperwork
A superbill is an itemised receipt carrying the codes an insurance company needs to process a claim you file yourself.
It names the date of service, the clinician and their license number, the diagnosis code, the procedure code, and the amount you paid.
You would want one in three common situations.
Ask for a superbill at checkout and it gets prepared for you. Filing it usually means one form on your insurer's member portal with the receipt attached.
Reimbursement goes to you, not to the spa, because you have already paid at the desk.
Pre-tax money
HSA and FSA cards are accepted at the front desk and for online payment. The card runs like any other card.
The money on it was set aside before tax, so a $150 ninety-minute massage costs you less than $150 of take-home pay. For most people that is a saving of roughly a quarter to a third, depending on the bracket.
This is worth two minutes of your attention, because the rule is federal and it catches people out. The card being accepted is not the same as the treatment being eligible. Eligibility turns on why you booked, and the IRS excludes anything that is, in its words, merely beneficial to general health.
| Treatment | Eligible? | What it needs |
|---|---|---|
| Acupuncture Coming soon | Yes | Nothing. The IRS names acupuncture directly in Publication 502 |
| Physical therapy | Yes | Nothing. It is medical care by a licensed clinician |
| Massage for a diagnosed condition | Yes | A Letter of Medical Necessity naming the condition |
| Massage for stress or relaxation | No | Nothing makes this eligible. Pay with an ordinary card |
| Salt booth, facials, waxing, tinting | No | These are wellness and cosmetic services |
| IV vitamin therapy | No | A wellness service rather than treatment for a condition |
Getting this wrong costs you, not us. An HSA withdrawal that turns out not to qualify becomes taxable income and carries an extra 20% tax if you are under 65. So if the honest answer is that you booked the massage because your shoulders were up round your ears, use a normal card and enjoy it.
Acupuncture is the strongest case of the lot, and it opens here shortly. Most commercial plans do not cover it. Medicare does, for chronic low back pain, up to twelve visits in ninety days and eight more if you are improving, capped at twenty a year. The VA covers it under its Whole Health system. And whatever your plan says, acupuncture is HSA and FSA eligible with no letter and no argument, because the IRS names it directly in Publication 502. If you have been paying cash for it elsewhere, you have been using post-tax money for no reason.
One page from a clinician is what moves massage from the second list to the first. It names your condition, says why massage treats that condition, and states how often and for how long.
Conditions it is routinely written for: chronic low back or neck pain, sciatica, fibromyalgia, post-surgical recovery, and injury rehabilitation. If a clinician has already put a name to what is wrong with you, you are most of the way there.
Ask your doctor for it at your next visit. It costs you a two-minute conversation and one letter can cover a year of treatment. Keep it with your receipts. You rarely have to send it in, but you want it if your administrator ever asks you to prove the expense.
If you are already seeing our physical therapist, ask at your appointment. Having a licensed clinician in the same building as the treatment room is the part of this that most spas cannot offer.
If you have an FSA, check the date. FSA money is use it or lose it. Most plans end on 31 December and only some allow a carryover or a short grace period into the new year. If yours is running out, that is the moment to book the course of treatment rather than the single appointment.
Everything above is a plain reading of IRS Publication 502 and it is not tax advice. Your plan administrator makes the final call on any claim, and they are the ones to ask if your situation is unusual.
Veterans
C3 Wellness Spa bills VA Community Care and accepts VA benefits at 3001 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh.
VA Community Care is the programme that lets you get treatment from a provider outside a VA facility when the VA authorises it.
The authorisation has to come first. Ask your VA care team for a referral before you book, and bring the referral number with you.
Without that authorisation on file, the visit is self-pay, and getting it approved after the fact is difficult.
If you are holding a referral and cannot tell whether it covers massage therapy or physical therapy, bring it in or read it out over the phone. Someone will go through it with you before you spend anything.
When no plan pays
CareCredit is a health care credit card, and it is accepted here. You apply once, then use it like any card at the desk.
It exists for the treatments no insurer will pay for: facials, salt booth sessions, and any course of massage that is not tied to a diagnosis.
It is most useful when you want a run of sessions rather than one. Ten massages at $110 is $1,100, and spreading that over months is easier than paying it in a week.
The rates and promotional terms come from CareCredit, not from the spa, so read what you are signing before you sign it.
The offer
Call (919) 616-7868 with the name of your plan and the member ID from your card.
You get back three things: whether the treatment is billable under your plan, what your copay or coinsurance is likely to be, and what you would pay if none of it applies.
There is no charge for the check and no obligation to book. If your plan covers nothing, you owe nothing and you have lost ten minutes.
Weekday mornings are the quickest to get someone on the phone. Lines are open Mon to Fri, 8am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 6pm, and Sunday 12pm to 6pm.
Plans billed directly
These are the plans C3 Wellness Spa bills directly, so you pay a copay at the desk rather than the full rate and wait for money back.
Being on this list does not mean every treatment is covered on every plan. It means the claim can be filed for you rather than by you.
If your insurer is not on the list, ask for a superbill and file it yourself under your out-of-network benefits.
Student Blue covers physical therapy, so students pay a copay instead of the self-pay rate.
Faculty and staff on the State Health Plan have physical therapy covered when it is medically necessary.
More for the Wolfpack, including how to walk here from the Belltower.
No insurance at all
These are the everyday prices. Nothing here is an introductory rate that goes up on your second visit.
| Treatment | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Massage therapy, Swedish | 60 min | $110 |
| Massage therapy | 75 min | $130 |
| Massage therapy | 90 min | $150 |
| Physical therapy | 30 min | $60 |
| Physical therapy | 45 min | $90 |
| Physical therapy | 60 min | $120 |
| Salt & Sound Booth | 15 min | $15 |
A 3.5% fee applies when you pay by card online. Cash is exempt from it, and the fee never applies to an insurance copay or coinsurance.
Asked constantly
Sometimes. Massage therapy is billable to medical insurance when a licensed clinician performs it and there is a documented medical reason, such as an injury or chronic pain. C3 Wellness Spa in Raleigh bills Aetna, AARP, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, UnitedHealthcare, Medicare and VA Community Care. Coverage depends on your plan and your deductible, so call (919) 616-7868 and the check is free.
It depends entirely on why you are booking it, and this is the part people get wrong. Massage booked for relaxation, stress or general wellbeing is not eligible, whatever card you pay with. Massage booked to treat a condition a clinician has diagnosed is eligible, and what makes it eligible is a Letter of Medical Necessity naming that condition. Get the letter first, keep it with your receipts, and the card is fine.
The VA can, through VA Community Care, when it authorises treatment outside a VA facility. C3 Wellness Spa bills VA Community Care. Get the referral before you book, because approval after the visit is difficult to obtain.
A superbill is an itemised receipt with the diagnosis and procedure codes your insurer needs to process a claim you file yourself. Ask for one at checkout, then upload it through your insurer's member portal. Any reimbursement comes back to you.
Usually not. Acupuncture is generally excluded from medical plans, but it is HSA and FSA eligible, so you can pay for it with pre-tax money at C3 Wellness Spa.
Medicare is one of the plans C3 Wellness Spa bills directly, and physical therapy is the treatment most often covered under it. Whether massage is billable depends on your specific plan and your diagnosis. Call with your details and you get an answer before booking.
At C3 Wellness Spa, a 60-minute massage is $110, 75 minutes is $130 and 90 minutes is $150, and your first one is $85. Physical therapy runs from $60 for 30 minutes to $120 for an hour. The salt booth is $15 for 15 minutes.
Yes. CareCredit is accepted at C3 Wellness Spa for treatments insurance will not pay for, such as facials, salt booth sessions and any course of massage without a diagnosis behind it. Rates and promotional terms are set by CareCredit.
A 3.5% fee applies to card payments made online at C3 Wellness Spa. Cash is exempt from the fee, and it is never charged on an insurance copay or coinsurance.
Student Blue covers physical therapy for NC State students. Faculty and staff on the State Health Plan have physical therapy covered when it is medically necessary. C3 Wellness Spa is on Hillsborough Street, a short walk from campus.
Only when it is treating a diagnosed condition. C3 Wellness Spa in Raleigh accepts HSA and FSA cards at the front desk and online, but the card is not what decides eligibility. IRS Publication 502 excludes anything that is merely beneficial to general health, which is what a relaxation massage is. With a Letter of Medical Necessity from a clinician naming the condition, saying why massage treats it and how often it is needed, it qualifies. Keep the letter with your receipts.
Yes, when the massage is treating a diagnosed condition and you have a Letter of Medical Necessity on file. FSA cards are accepted at C3 Wellness Spa, 3001 Hillsborough Street, Suite 124, Raleigh NC 27607. Because FSA money is set aside before tax, a $150 ninety-minute massage costs less than $150 of take-home pay. Without the letter, a massage booked for relaxation is not an eligible expense.
At C3 Wellness Spa in Raleigh, self-pay massage therapy is $110 for 60 minutes, $130 for 75 minutes and $150 for 90 minutes, with a $85 first-visit rate. Physical therapy is $60 for 30 minutes, $90 for 45 minutes and $120 for 60 minutes. The salt and sound booth is $15 for 15 minutes. A 3.5% fee applies to card payments made online, cash is exempt, and the fee is never applied to an insurance copay or coinsurance.
A Letter of Medical Necessity is a one-page letter from a doctor stating a patient's condition, why a treatment such as massage therapy addresses it, and how often and how long it is needed. HSA and FSA administrators use it to confirm the expense qualifies. C3 Wellness Spa in Raleigh advises patients to request one at their next doctor visit and keep it with their receipts.
Yes. C3 Wellness Spa in Raleigh accepts CareCredit for treatments insurance does not pay for, including facials, salt booth sessions and courses of massage without a medical diagnosis. Rates and promotional terms are set by CareCredit rather than by the spa.
Student Blue covers physical therapy, so NC State students pay a copay at C3 Wellness Spa rather than the self-pay rate. NC State faculty and staff on the State Health Plan have physical therapy covered when it is medically necessary. C3 Wellness Spa is at 3001 Hillsborough Street, Suite 124, a short walk from the NC State campus.
Bring your plan name and member ID. The benefits check is free and you owe nothing if the answer is nothing.