The massage therapy Entry Level Analysis Project (ELAP) work group has completed its research and invites all in the profession to provide feedback on its first draft blueprint of what potentially might be included in entry-level massage education.  ELAP is a cooperative venture by the coalition of major national organizations in the massage therapy profession. Its goal is to provide research-informed recommendations on essential elements of entry-level education.

Last fall we notified our California members that Senate Bill 1193, which added section 52.6 to the California Civil Code, would be requiring that massage establishments — except those that employ only California Massage Therapy Council (CAMTC)-certified therapists — must conspicuously post written human trafficking notices.  The law is now in effect.

As a result,

• If you practice massage or bodywork in California, and you do not have any other massage therapists or bodyworkers as employees, you must post the human trafficking notice in the place where you practice, unless you are CAMTC-certified. If you are CAMTC-certified, you do not have to post the notice.
  
• If you employ others as massage therapists or bodyworkers, then you must post the human trafficking notice in your place of business unless you and all of the therapists/bodyworkers you employ are CAMTC-certified. If you and all of your therapist/bodyworker employees are CAMTC-certified, you do not have to post the notice. If some, but not all, of your employees are CAMTC-certified, you must post the notice.

Any establishment which is required to post the notice but fails to do so is subject to a $500 penalty for the first offense and a $1000 penalty for each subsequent offense.

The notice must be at least 8 ½ inches by 11 inches in size, and written in 16-point font.  It must be posted near the public entrance of your business or in another location which is in public view.

All establishments which fall under the posting requirement must post one copy of the notice in English and another copy in Spanish.  Establishments in certain counties must post the notice in other languages as well.

Click here  to download and print a copy of the notice in English.

Click here to download and print a copy of the notice in Spanish.

Click here to see if you are required to post the notice in additional languages as well, and to download and print a copy of those notices.

After you have clicked on the required notices, print them on 8 ½” x 11” paper and post them conspicuously in your establishment.

Please do not delay; the requirement is in effect now.

Please contact Nancy Potter at nancy@abmp.com with any questions.

ABMP would like to let its members know that the Massage Therapy Foundation Team that ran in yesterday¹s Boston Marathon is all accounted for and safe.  President Les Sweeney, who ran the race, and several other ABMP staff members who were in attendance to cheer him on, were not affected by the tragedy. Our thoughts are with those who were injured and the families of the deceased.

Applications for Idaho licensing are now available. This is not voluntary.  All massage therapists are required to obtain a license by July 1, 2013 in order to practice.  We recommend that you begin the license application process as soon you can. 

To be clear – the term “grandfathering” relates to the qualifications required for existing practitioners to obtain a license for a certain period of time without meeting the normal licensing requirements. Grandfathering doesn’t mean you don’t have to apply.  Everyone must submit an application if they plan to practice massage therapy in the state of Idaho.  You will only be able to apply by grandfathering until July 1, 2014.

If your practice is limited to one or more of the following modalities and you do not advertise or use the term “massage” in your practice – you are not required to obtain an Idaho massage therapy license:

The Feldenkrais method, the Trager approach, body-mind centering, Ortho-Bionomy, craniosacral therapy, polarity therapy, polarity bodywork therapy, Asian bodywork therapy, acupressure, jin shin doo, qi gong, reiki, shiatsu, Rolfing, structural integration, Hellerwork, or a practice which is limited to manipulation of the soft tissues of the hands, feet, or ears as long as practitioner does not hold him/herself out to be a massage therapist or someone performing massage or massage therapy.

Fees

The application and licensing fee is $125.00, which must be paid by check or money order made payable to the Idaho State Bureau of Occupational Licenses (IBOL).  You can pay by cash (exact change required) or credit card if you choose to submit your application in person at the IBOL offices in Boise.  For future reference, you will have to renew your license yearly for a fee of $75.

Choose the correct application 

It will be easiest for most applicants to choose one of the five methods below and apply by grandfathering. If you do not satisfy any of the five grandfathering categories, then refer to the instructions for “Examination Applicants” or “Endorsement Applicants” in the “Application Instructions” on the Idaho State Board of Massage Therapy’s Website.

All applicants must:

• Pay the $125 fee.
• Complete the application. Most applicants will use the Grandfather Application.
• All applications must be signed in the presence of a notary public, who also must sign and stamp the document.  Many banks have notary publics on staff.
• In addition, all applicants will have to provide other documentation depending on which one of the five different requirements you are meeting in order to qualify for a license by grandfathering.

You only need to fulfill one grandfathering category.  They are:

(1)    Professional membership.  If you were a member of ABMP (or certain other professional associations) for any full one-year period prior to the date of your license application, then you can apply for a license by grandfathering on that basis.  This is the easiest and most efficient way to qualify for licensure.

Checklist:

• Contact Nancy Potter at nancy@abmp.com to request that ABMP send a membership verification letter directly to the Board.
• At number 7 and number 8 on the Grandfather Application Link, check yes or no after each question, but disregard the instructions stating that you must have a transcript and exam test scores sent in.
• At the bottom of page 1 of the Grandfather Application, place a check mark on the line before the sentence which begins, “Provide proof of active membership in good standing as a massage therapist…”  Do not place a check on any of the other lines at the bottom of page 1.
• You do not have to fill out the “Work Experience” section on page 2.
• If you hold a license in another state, contact the Board in that state to have them mail verification of your license directly to the Idaho Board.
• Keep a copy of this and all other completed documents for your records.

 (2)   Exam.  If you have taken and passed either the MBLEx exam or one of the NCBTB exams (the NCETM or the NCETMB), then you can apply for a license by grandfathering on that basis.

Checklist:

• You must contact the testing agency to have it send a copy of your exam scores directly to the Idaho Board.  If you passed the MBLEx, go to www.fsmtb.org, click on “MBLEx Mobility Form along the top of the page, fill out the form, and mail it in to the address on the form.  If you passed one of the NCBTMB exams, contact the NCBTMB at 1-800-296-0664 or info@ncbtmb.org and request that your exam scores be sent to the Idaho Board.  Current certification by the NCBTMB is not required – passing the exam at some point in the past is sufficient.
• At number 7 on the Grandfather Application link, check yes or no, but disregard the instruction stating that you must have a transcript sent in.
• At the bottom of page 1 of the Grandfather Application, place a check mark on the line before the sentence which begins, “Provide proof of having passed an examination…”  Do not place a check on any of the other lines at the bottom of page 1.
• You do not have to fill out the “Work Experience” section on page 2.
• If you hold a license in another state, contact the Board in that state to have them send verification of your license directly to the Idaho Board.
• Keep a copy of this and all other completed documents for your records.

(3)    Education. You can apply for a grandfathering license based on education if  you completed 500 hours in a massage therapy program at a school which is registered with the Idaho State Board of Education or a comparable agency in another state, which consisted of at least:  200 hours in massage and bodywork assessment, theory, and application; 125 hours in body systems including anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology; 40 hours in pathology; 25 hours in business and ethics; and 110 hours of supervised clinical work.

Checklist:

• Contact your school to (1) confirm that it is still open and (2) that is registered with the Idaho State Board of Education or a comparable agency in another state.  If your school is now closed, try to locate any contact information for your school that you can.  If you cannot locate contact information, you may need to apply for a license in one of the other ways.
• Ask your school to send a copy of your official transcript directly to the Board.
• At number 8 on the Grandfather Application link, check yes or no, but disregard the instruction stating that you must have exam scores sent in.
• At the bottom of page 1 of the Grandfather Application, place a check mark on the line before the sentence which begins, “Completed a minimum of five hundred (500) hours of supervised classroom and hands-on instruction…”  Do not place a check on any of the other lines at the bottom of page 1.
• You do not have to fill out the “Work Experience” section on page 2.
• If you hold a license in another state, contact the Board in that state to have them send verification of your license directly to the Idaho Board.
• Keep a copy of this and all other completed documents for your records.

(4)    If you have practiced massage therapy for an average of at least 5 hours per week for the past 3 years AND you have 300 hours of formal training in massage, you can apply by grandfathering on that basis.

Checklist:

• Contact your school to (1) confirm that it is still open and (2) that is registered with the Idaho State Board of Education or a comparable agency in another state.  If your school is now closed, try to locate any contact information for your school that you can.  If you cannot locate contact information, you may need to apply for a license in one of the other ways.
• Ask your school to send a copy of your official transcript directly to the Board.
• At number 8 on the Grandfather Application, check yes or no after the question, but disregard the instructions stating that you must have exam test scores sent in.
• At the bottom of page 1 of the Grandfather Application, place a check mark on the line before the sentence which begins, “Completed at least three hundred (300) hours of formal massage training in massage therapy…”  Do not place a check on any of the other lines at the bottom of page 1.
• Fill out the “Work Experience” section on page 2.
• If you hold a license in another state, contact the Board in that state to have them send verification of your license directly to the Idaho Board.
• Keep a copy of this and all other completed documents for your records.

(5)    If you have practiced massage therapy for an average of at least 5 hours per week for the past 5 years AND you have 200 hours of formal training in massage, you can apply by grandfathering on that basis.

Checklist:

• Contact your school to (1) confirm that it is still open and (2) that is registered with the Idaho State Board of Education or a comparable agency in another state.  If your school is now closed, try to locate any contact information for your school that you can.  If you cannot locate contact information, you may need to apply for a license in one of the other ways.
• Ask your school to send a copy of your official transcript directly to the Board.
• At number 8 on the Grandfather Application, check yes or no after the question, but disregard the instructions stating that you must have exam test scores sent in.
• At the bottom of page 1 of the Grandfather Application, place a check mark on the line before the sentence which begins, “Completed at least two hundred (200) hours of formal massage training in massage therapy…”  Do not place a check on any of the other lines at the bottom of page 1.
• Fill out the “Work Experience” section on page 2.
• If you hold a license in another state, contact the Board in that state to have verification of your license mailed directly to the Idaho Board.
• Keep a copy of this and all other completed documents for your records.

Avoid Common Mistakes

Keep a copy for your records of all documents that you submit.

Don’t lie on the application.  The information you submit is easily verifiable, and you are likely to get caught.  A past arrest, criminal conviction, or disciplinary action will not automatically disqualify you.  Lying will.

You must have a license issued by the state of Idaho by July 1, 2013 in order to practice massage legally.  Don’t let anyone convince you that it is “okay” to practice with only NCBTMB certification.  It is not okay.

Don’t Panic

It will be a criminal violation of the law to practice massage therapy without a Board-issued license.  You must be licensed by July 1, 2013 to work as a massage therapist.  This gives you sufficient time to complete the process, but do not procrastinate.  Get the process started now.

License Renewals and CE

Massage licenses expire every year on the licensee’s birthday.  You must renew every year before your birthday by completing and submitting a renewal form, which will be made available on the Board’s website, along with a $75 renewal fee.  Each year starting after your first renewal, you will need to complete 6 hours of massage therapy continuing education (CE), which must include one hour of ethics.  All of the CE can be done online if you so choose.

If You Have Questions

We’ve tried to summarize the application process and address anticipated questions as best we can.  If you’ve reviewed all the information here and on the application but still have questions, please contact Nancy Potter at nancy@abmp.com.  However, it’s possible that only the Board can answer your question.  To contact the Board:

Idaho State Board of Massage Therapy
Idaho Bureau of Occupational Licenses
700 West State Street, PO Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0063
Phone:  (208) 334-3233
Fax:  (208) 334-3945
Email:  mas@ibol.idaho.gov
Website:  click here

ABMP is proud to sponsor EveryBody Deserves a Massage Week, July 14–20, 2013. During this annual July event, ABMP members give their time, money, and effort to help those less fortunate in their communities, while raising the profession’s visibility at the same time. In 2007, the program won a silver award from the Colorado Healthcare Communicators for its overall excellence.

Throughout EveryBody Deserves a Massage Week, ABMP encourages and supports members as they donate their time to such community-spirited activities as offering complimentary massages while collecting cash or canned-food donations for nonprofits. Other efforts include offering free massage or discounts to senior citizens, students, police and firefighters, as well as charity telethon work and health fair participation. ABMP members can learn more about this event and print their customizable Massage Week materials at ABMP.com.

Massage therapists can also order a free sample packet of materials, or reserve an event banner from ABMP’s EveryBody Deserves a Massage Week hotline: 877-208-7546.

Maryland House Bill 818 and Senate Bill 915, both recently introduced in the state legislature, propose to increase the number of hours that an applicant for licensure must complete in a Board-approved massage program from 500 hours to 600 hours.  The bills also would add kinesiology to the content areas that must be included in those 600 hours.

ABMP opposes any increase in the required educational hours or content areas without justification for such a change. There are already considerable inconsistencies in the Maryland law regulating massage therapists that make reciprocity very difficult. Adding to those obstacles for no apparent reason is unacceptable.

The bills have been withdrawn so no additional action will take place in 2013.

As we discussed in our last legislative update, HB 1126 initially proposed to repeal South Dakota’s Massage Therapy Act.  However, a compromise amendment was achieved which deleted the repeal language and instead made several improvements to the massage law, including:

• Removing the requirement that schools must be accredited by a US Department of Education recognized accrediting agency by July 1, 2014 in order to be recognized by the Board.
• Improving reciprocity/endorsement licensing requirements for those moving to South Dakota.
• Improving the renewal process and adding a grace period for licensees who renew within 30 days of expiration.
• Requiring eight (8) hours of continuing education and allowing all 8 hours to be obtained online if the licensee chooses.
• Setting a minimum professional liability insurance coverage limit of no less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars per occurrence instead of allowing the Board to determine limits by rule. Liability insurance coverage included in your ABMP membership far exceeds this amount.

ABMP was in favor of the proposed amendment, and we are now pleased to report that the final enrolled bill was signed into law by Governor Daugaard on March 14, 2013.  We thank those of you who contacted your legislators to voice your support for the bill.  ABMP will attempt to assist the Board in developing rules which might better accommodate those license applicants who graduated from schools which are now closed.

All interested massage therapists are invited to participate in a survey on massage education. The purpose of this survey is to gather opinions regarding the quality of massage education, with the overall goal of improving its quality. The survey is being conducted by Martha Menard, PhD, as part of a program evaluation on behalf of the Commission on Massage Therapy Accreditation (COMTA).

The survey link is available here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8W8GZHJ
Please respond no later than April 5, 2013.

All responses are anonymous. The final results of this study will be used for scholarly purposes and may also be published in a summary format in a peer-reviewed journal.

If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Martha Menard, PhD, at 434-960-6862, or via email at martha@sigmaappliedresearch.com. This study has been reviewed according to accepted Institutional Review Board (IRB) procedures for research involving human subjects, and approved. If you have questions about the rights of research participants you can call Solutions IRB. They are an impartial ethics review board, and can be contacted by phone at (855) 226-4472.

House Bill 1981 was introduced in the Washington state legislature on March 7, 2013.  The bill proposes to require that massage therapy businesses, or “establishments,” obtain establishment licenses from the Department of Health in order to operate.  The bill lists several exemptions, including exemptions for student clinics, establishments owned by licensed medical professionals, establishments which provide only chair massage, establishments owned and operated by a licensed massage practitioner who is the only practitioner working in that establishment, and establishments that are affiliated with a national massage franchise.

ABMP is opposed to the bill and has voiced its opposition in a letter to the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Laurie Jinkins, which you can read here.  The bill has not been sent to Committee, and it is in the early stages of the legislative process.  We will let you know of any developments concerning HB 1981.

Under current law, Rhode Island massage therapists are regulated directly by the Department of Health.  House Bill 5714, introduced in the state legislature on February 27, 2013, would amend Rhode Island’s massage law by placing the regulation of the massage profession under a new State Board of Massage Therapy Examiners operating under the Division of Professional Regulation of the Department of Health.  The Board would be composed of seven members, five of whom would be licensed massage therapists and one of whom would be a member of the general public.  No more than one member could be affiliated with a massage therapy school.  Board members would serve in staggered two-year terms after an initial term not exceeding three years.

H 5714 also would impose a new continuing education (CE) requirement for massage therapists.  If the bill is passed, therapists will need to certify that they have completed six hours of CE every year, or twelve hours every two years, in order to renew their licenses.  The Board would issue rules detailing the specifics of the new requirement.  We have asked the bill sponsors to provide their reasoning for proposing mandatory CE now.  Required CE means additional costs for practitioners, and ABMP believes that it should be imposed only if doing so will enhance public protection, not simply because other states do so.

Additionally, H 5714 would require that massage therapists state their name and license number on all advertising, and display a copy of their license in their principal place of business.  Other amendments proposed in the bill include new, expressly-stated exemptions for modalities including Feldenkrais and Trager, and an increase in the limit on monetary penalties for violations of the massage law from $1000 to $5000.

We will keep you informed of any important developments.

HB 659, recently introduced in the Missouri legislature, proposes to dramatically alter the state’s massage therapy law by stating that “nothing [within the massage therapy statute] shall require a person engaged in the practice of massage therapy to be licensed,” except that only someone who has obtained a license can call him or herself a “licensed massage therapist.”  Therefore, if the bill becomes law, no massage therapist in Missouri will be required to have license in order to practice massage, as long as the therapist does not call him or herself a “licensed massage therapist.”

ABMP strongly opposes HB 659.  Professional licensure is critical to ensuring entry-level standards of practice for the profession, and it protects the safety of the public by ensuring that therapists have received adequate training and that massage clients have an avenue to file complaints if necessary.  Only five states in the country have experimented with a voluntary licensing scheme.  Two of those (New Jersey and Wisconsin) have now switched to mandatory licensing, and two more (Indiana and Virginia) are considering a switch in 2013.  Voluntary licensing is confusing to clients and does not serve the profession or the public. 

ABMP opposes HB 659 and has contacted the sponsor and committee members. We will keep you informed of the status of the bill.

Under current Florida law, an applicant is qualified for licensure as a massage therapist if he or she passes an approved exam and either completes a course of study at a school approved by the Massage Therapy Board or completes an apprenticeship program that meets the Board’s standards.  Under SB 1334, recently introduced in the Florida state legislature, apprenticeships would no longer serve as a qualification for licensure.  If the bill becomes law, every applicant will be required to pass a Board-approved exam and complete the required massage education at a Board-approved school.

We will keep you informed of the status of the bill.

If passed, Senate Bill 387 would require that “massage facilities,” meaning any “facility where a person engages in the practice of massage,” obtain a massage facility permit from the Oregon Board of Massage Therapists in order to operate.  This requirement would not apply to licensed massage schools or to individual massage therapists working out of their homes.  In addition, the bill was amended on March 1st to exclude all clinics or facilities owned or operated by a person regulated by a health professional regulatory board from obtaining a facility permit as well.

This means that massage facilities that are owned or operated by licensed massage therapists (or other health professionals listed here) will not be required to obtain a facility permit. Only facilities owned or operated by people who are not licensed massage therapists (or other licensed health professionals) will be required to obtain a facility permit.

ABMP is very supportive of exempting licensed health professionals from the facility permit requirement.  The Board of Massage Therapists believes that regulating facilities will help combat the serious problem of human trafficking in Oregon by giving the Board the authority to discipline establishment owners operating illicit businesses under the guise of massage and providing a tool for law enforcement in shutting those businesses down. ABMP expected the Board to exempt licensed health professionals by rule, but it is more appropriate that they are clearly exempt by statute.

House Bill 351, sponsored by Rep. Paul Ray, would require massage therapy licensees to complete twenty-four hours of mandatory continuing education during each 2 year renewal cycle.  You may read ABMP’s letter to the bill sponsor and committee members regarding our concerns here. The bill was heard by the House Health and Human Services Committee on February 27, 2013 and several committee members and testifiers voiced similar concerns with the bill. As a result, the Committee referred the bill to the House Rules Committee with the recommendation that they move the bill to interim study.

Interim Committees study key issues facing the state and recommend legislation for the upcoming session. These committees meet between legislative sessions from April through November and serve as an opportunity for the public to speak and give their input to the legislature concerning matters being considered. Offering opinions regarding issues being considered in the interim committees is an excellent way to participate in the lawmaking process and ABMP will inform members when the opportunity arises.