Essentially, taking part in the fraudulent representation of information in a healthcare context exposes you to both civil and criminal healthcare fraud liability, even if you are not a licensed medical professional.  

The most common way in which massage therapists participate in a healthcare fraud scheme is by providing services which are then fraudulently billed to insurance providers. 

Here is how it works. While massage therapy is widely regarded as a beneficial service, it is also largely considered optional by the mainstream medical industry. Accordingly, insurance companies do not tend to provide reimbursements for massage therapy services, due to the fact that they are considered a low medical priority.  

This bar of coverage is attributable to many factors, including the level of training massage therapists are required to undergo, and the degree of scientific research supporting its role in treating medical conditions. 

Hence, healthcare fraud furthered by massage therapists often involves billing insurance companies for services that are covered, like physical therapy, when in fact massage therapy is provided instead.  

A massage therapist might take part in this type of scheme to get around the fact that massage therapy is not covered by insurance. This is because patients are more likely to agree to covered services, which they only have to pay for a small portion of.  

Massage therapists might be motivated by additional or alternate incentives, such as fee arrangements with co-conspirators or other perks, including the reduction or waiving of overhead costs in exchange for cooperation with the scheme. 

A variation on the type of fraud detailed above occurs when physical therapy or other services are performed, but they are performed by massage therapists rather than licensed professionals. 

This constitutes fraud because insurance coverage is not only limited to certain types of treatments, but to certain types of medical professionals as well. Most insurers will not extend coverage to an eligible service unless it is provided by an eligible professional.

Whatever form the fraud takes, massage therapists involved in a healthcare fraud scheme often align themselves with a licensed medical professional who is seeking to avoid the time expenditure of seeing patients. This is done by outsourcing work to unlicensed therapists, and then billing for it as though he provided their services himself.

Your job is to perform the service the licensed medical professional is claiming to perform, whether it is a massage fraudulently billed as physical therapy or an actual physical therapy service you are not by insurance standards qualified to perform.  

This enables a licensed professional to collect insurance reimbursements in connection with your work, which he may or may not share with you. Whatever the agreement, this type of scheme allows a licensed professional to bill for far more claims than he could individually provide.  

It is important to emphasize however that you do not need to align yourself with a licensed professional to take part in a healthcare fraud scheme. You might participate in or lead a scheme which fraudulently uses the identity of a licensed medical professional to sign off on reimbursement claims. 

Such a scheme does not require the conscious involvement of a medical professional, but might give rise to additional criminal charges, such as Identity Theft or Aggravated Identity theft, with the latter imposing a mandatory two-year prison sentence.  

As a final important note, deliberately executing a fraudulent scheme with another person, whether or not that person is a licensed professional, can constitute a conspiracy.  Where false claims are submitted to a government benefit program like Medicare, you could be charged with Conspiracy to Defraud the United States.  

If convicted of these charges, additional sentencing will be added to any sentencing you face in connection with other charges.