Manual osteopathy in Canada is covered under a number of different insurance types, such as EHP and MVA . National Academy of Osteopathy (Canada) alumni practice in all Canadian provinces and territories and their manual osteopathic care is accepted by most insurers. Some of the available insurance benefits for manual osteopathy include:
1- Extended health plan insurance coverage for employees who have health benefits. This is the #1 most common type of insurance benefit for our alumni. About 30% of Canadian workers have supplementary (extended) health benefits that pay for manual osteopathic care provided by National Academy of Osteopathy alumni in Canada.
To be eligible for payment NAO graduates must join osteopathic associations such as College of Registered Manual Osteopaths Canada (www.manualosteopaths.org), College of Osteopathic Manual Practitioners of Ontario (www.compontario.com) and/or Alliance Canadienne de Médecine Alternative ( that are accepted by the insurance company that provides the extended health plan.
EHP insurers usually cover a maximum of $100 per hour, and up to $500 per year for manual osteopathy services provided by NAO alumni who are members of approved associations.
2- The 2nd most common insurance payment to NAO alumni is for patients injured in a motor vehicle accident (MVA). In Ontario the Financial Service Commission of Ontario (FSCO) sets the hourly rate which is about $60 per hour of a manual osteopathy session provided by NAO alumni. Before starting treatments of an MVA patient, NAO alumni must submit a treatment plan to insurer and receive approval. They must also register with HCAI, to receive a billing number and submit the billing by using an OCF auto insurance standard invoice. W
3- A small number of NAO alumni who are licensed medical doctors can bill the provincial government health plan insurance, such as OHIP in Ontario, under their own medical license billing number when they provide manual osteopathy.
4- NAO alumni who are chiropractors, physiotherapists , occupational therapists, chiropodists and massage therapists in some case can receive payments under Workers Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) or Workers Compensation Board (WCB) for manual osteopathic care they provide to patients injured in a work related accident. They must receive prior approval from WSIB or WCB before starting treatments.
5- The Veteran Affairs now covers manual osteopathic care provided by NAO alumni.
6- In rare cases the Ontario government covers a small amount of payment for those people receiving long term disability benefits and who are on social assistance. prior approval is needed and a medical doctor referral is requested as well.
In this video Dr Shawn Pourgol, MBA, DC, DO, PhD explains the most common types of insurance that pay to our alumni for manual osteopathic care they provide to the Canadian public.
Insurance coverage for manual osteopathy in Canada is a recent phenomenon about a decade long. When NAO started in June 2010, there was hardly any coverage for manual osteopathy. Through hard work of NAO alumni and other manual osteopaths, now patients across Canada have access to insurance benefits for manual osteopathic care.
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