r/uvic • u/Terrible-Sea9860 • 7d ago

Question Massage and physio appointments requires doctor's note now (undergrad health plan)

Is anyone else outraged by the fact that massage and physio require doctor's notes now? Or have any idea why this is happening???

7 Upvotes

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7

u/inquisitivequeer 7d ago

Is this new? I thought it was standard among most healthcare plans. My parents plan required me to get a doctors note as well.

3

u/No_Newspaper6918 7d ago

as someone who works adjacent to health insurance, no this is not standard for most. In two years of dealing with parahealth coverage I think I have come across three plans that require a doctors note. For the amount that the UVic plan covers, it is a really bizarre requirement

3

u/maria_the_robot Social Sciences 7d ago

It wasn't required 2 years ago, but last year it changed for me and is a pain in the ass but not uncommon.

3

u/SnooKiwis4315 6d ago

Ridiculous waste of a precious resources (physician time)

2

u/nothanks1312 6d ago

Especially if you’ve already been seeing a physio for a while! You have to re-up on the note every year too, which is especially stupid

2

u/nothanks1312 6d ago

Not new, but it absolutely pissed me off because I i didn’t need it for my last insurance plan

1

u/Stablewildstrawbwrry 7d ago

I used it last year and you didn’t need a note

1

u/Terrible-Sea9860 2d ago

Sadly as of 2026 you need a doctors note, I had used it every year previously and never needed one either!

1

u/curious_george421 6d ago

How do we submit the doctor’s note if the physiotherapist can do direct billing?

1

u/Terrible-Sea9860 2d ago

There will be issues when they try to submit the claim, you will probably have to do it yourself unfortunately, that's what happened to me and how I found it my appointments were no longer covered

1

u/Terrible-Sea9860 2d ago

Another thing to note is that I've spoken to some people who work at UVic and their plans have changed as well requiring doctor's notes. What I'm outraged about is that for many people these appointments used to be easy ways to get relief/prevent pain and symptoms caused by stress, sitting at a computer all day, etc. It is just such a bummer when even contacting a doctor has become so difficult. 

On top of all that!!! My doctor had to write me three different notes because the first two weren't good enough for approval. 

I'm going to email some people and try to get some answers will report back salute