December 21, 2023
The Interstate Massage Compact (IMpact) has clearly shown us what the major issues are in the massage therapy profession. If you are not familiar with the IMpact, you might want to catch up. The short version is that this is a program started by the Department of Defense who wants the members of the military to be able to move more easily around the US. The Council of State Governments (who has created compacts for other professions) is also involved. A grant was given to the Federation of State Massage Boards to help implement this project and create language for a bill to be passed in every state that wants to join. All of the major players gave input into the creation of this. Some states are ineligilbe to join as per their requirements. Some massage therapists won’t be able to apply and take advantage of this as they don’t meet the requirements. Many DO meet the requirements though and that would help the military move more easily and allow ALL massage therapists in states that join the compact to work in other states more easily. If you move permanently this will NOT apply. If you move permanently, you will have to apply to each state for a state massage license as you do now. One of the most interesting things is that so many massage therapists are not even aware of this and the complexity and confusing information being shared about this is throwing the whole thing off. Nevada passed the bill last year and OH, NY have a bill in progress. Nebraska had a bill last year that was shut down (they require 1000 hours of education so really should not allow MT with less training to practice.)
The IMpact states that 625 hours of education would be required for a massage therapist to join the compact. This number is the standard set by the Entry Level Analysis Project back in 2012. Most states are still at 500 hours. The current numbers show this:
| 500 – 600 | 625-1000 |
| 23 | 22 |
While many states are still at 500 hours the key is that many schools in those states already have programs with higher number of required hours. We don’t know.
The 625 hours could be made up in CE classes and basic massage school, yet our CE system is a mess. There has never been any study to inform us just what is needed to remain a Competent massage therapist. Remember, occupational licensing is about protecting the public from harm. What harm is possible when getting a massage? The biggest category is usually sexual assault from a massage therapist. What’s up with that?
On October 31st, the US Department of Education released a 700-page rulemaking packet on Financial Responsibility, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, Ability to Benefit (ABT) that included changes to clock-hour education programs and the ability to receive financial aid. ABMP and AMTA created calls to action AFTER it came out. ABMP explains it better but the jist of it is, As of July 1, 2024, for a massage program to remain Title IV-eligible, program length must be exactly what the state requires. Our associations say this would be problematic but the main problem is that the licensing requirments in most states is still at 500 hours. What is up with that?
The massage therapy profession has no educational standards despite having a model practice act since 2014 that was created by the Federation of Massage State Boards. Why hasn’t it been implemented? Most of the issues we are having today have to do with lack of national standards in education. What is up with that?
Meanwhile…
Massage therapists are continually faced with sexual harassment by clients because of the enganglement of massage and prostitution. The Polaris Project (in their 2017 report) started referring to these businesses as “Illicit Massage Businesses” which adds to the confusion. When the local news station reports on illicit massage businesses ( also often called massage parlors), the public thinks that these are actual massage therapists doing bad things. This whole lack of awarness of what massage therapists really are and massage being confused with those other businesses has been happening since about 1894 and probably before. Want to know what to do about the issue and start changing this? Get my Ebook Hands Off Our Name.
License portability or being able to move to other states and practice massage has been a thorn in the massage profession side since the licensing of massage therapists began. Ohio was the first state to implement the licensing of massage therapists back in 1916. The variety of language used in laws varies so greatly despite having a model practice act since 2014. Each state has such a variety of requirements that it is a wonder that we are where we are at.
The number of hours of education required by each state is troublesome to say the least. I watched the WA State Board of Massage dicker over the hours and despite having the ELAP evidence, they just made it up…yes that is right. They set the hours based on their personal opinions.
Since about 2000, massage therapists in WA State have been able to bill health insurance for medically necessary massage because of the Every Category Law that made it so. It happened because of an insurance commissioner who stood up for us and even fought the insurance carriers and won with in Jan 1999 when the US Supreme Court made a decision on it after a 6 year battle. Want to learn more about biling insurance? Read my book the Massage Insurance Billing Manual.
The American Massage Therapy Association held their National Convention in AZ celebrating 80 years as an association. I had a big revelation from attending their Public Board Meeting — they are a #*^%@! machine! They are involved in so many projects on a national level, supporting the NCBTMB financially as well as the Massage Therapy Foundation. In some ways they are the best kept secret as most do not hear of the things that they do for the profession. In other ways, I keep wondering why we are so behind on the important issues such as license portability, standards of education and getting massage covered by health insurance/Medicare.