Changes in Massage Laws and Regulations for Minnesota

Minnesota Bill Would Regulate ABTs/MTs July 2004
In Minnesota, the nation’s first state to pass a health-care freedom-of-access act, an alliance of massage therapists and Asian bodywork therapists is seeking regulation.

Proponents of the legislation have been working toward it since 1992, citing the need to override a patchwork of city ordinances, give the public consistently qualified practitioners, and bolster the profession with standards of education and practice not enforced by the state’s Alternative Health Care Freedom of Access (FOA) Act.

"The [FOA Act] has no teeth in it," said Diane Kreuger, president and government-relations chair of the Minnesota chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA-MN). "No sanctioning is done unless a criminal act has been committed and the police are involved; anything else basically goes unpunished - ethical violations, boundaries, fee structures."

However, according to Richard Hnasko, senior investigator for the Minnesota Office of Unlicensed Complementary and Alternative Health Care Practice, created under the FOA Act, this is not the case. Hnasko said his office is currently investigating about 18 complaints associated with bodyworkers, 75 percent of which are based on sexual misconduct.

"I conduct investigations according to priority," he said. "The highest priority is if there may have been physical harm, which is not often the case with massage therapy. Second on the tier is sexual misconduct."

If the office deems the complaint valid, discipline can include anything from a mental-health screening and supervised practice to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 and revoking the right to practice.

Most supporters of the FOA Act oppose the bodywork regulation. Some fear regulation would make the FOA Act obsolete and narrow the scope of their practice.
The issue continues to divide Minnesota’s massage and bodywork communities as a bill for regulation makes its way through the state legislature.

House File (HF) 694/Senate File (SF) 689 aims to establish voluntary licensure for practitioners of massage and Asian bodywork.

The bill was introduced in 2003 and, at publication time, was awaiting hearings in both the House and Senate.

Time constraints, conflicting political climates and opposition from the bodywork community stalled past bills.

"Originally, in the early ’90s, AMTA sponsored sessions for all bodyworkers to come together to try to agree on legislation," said Kreuger. "After a few years of hard work, it came down to the fact that the [American Organization for Bodywork Therapies of Asia (AOBTA)] and AMTA modalities were similar enough to proceed together with some type of bill."

Members of the two associations, along with the owners of several bodywork schools, came together to form the Pro-Legislative Alliance. The bill they helped draft defines massage therapy and Asian bodywork therapy separately, with the latter described as affecting the energy field, and names the Minnesota Board of Chiropractic Examiners as the oversight board, with an additional advisory council.

HF 694/SF 689 would require 500 hours of massage education to become a licensed massage therapist (LMT) or 500 hours of Asian-bodywork education to become a licensed Asian bodywork therapist (LABT).

To apply for a massage license also requires a passing score on the National Certification Examination for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCETMB). A license in Asian bodywork therapy requires a passing score on either the NCETMB or the Comprehensive Written Examination in Asian Bodywork Therapy.

"If passed, this bill would supersede the [FOA Act] as well as individual city ordinances," said Kreuger.

The Freedom of Access (FOA) Act, passed in 2000, allows for the practice of unlicensed bodywork, among other health-care modalities, without any education or training standards. However, it requires practitioners to provide clients with information on their background and treatment approach, as well as instructions on how to file a complaint with Hnasko’s office.

Proponents of the bill say that, because it is voluntary, it will not affect the FOA Act or any practitioner who does not wish to be licensed.

"Everyone who is unlicensed would abide by the [FOA Act]," said Cari Johnson Pelava, co-director of CenterPoint, a massage and shiatsu school in Minneapolis, and a member of the Pro-Legislative Alliance as well as the AOBTA. "We would like to be licensed so we don’t have to be under the [FOA] law."

Opponents, however, see it as a "foot in the door" toward mandatory regulation.
Barbara York, president of the Minnesota Therapeutic Massage Network, which helped consult on the FOA Act, cites a section of the proposed bill in her argument against it:

"A municipality may, by ordinance, require all persons performing massage therapy or Asian bodywork therapy within its jurisdiction to hold a current state license under this chapter," states the bill.

"How can [licensure] be voluntary when they allow cities to require it of local practitioners"" said York. "This is not about the consumer. It’s not really about the practitioner. It’s about making money for the schools."

According to Pelava, the bill is indeed about the consumer and practitioner. "The public can be protected by knowing there’s a certain criteria and review process [involved in licensure]," she said. "If we want Asian bodywork therapy to be part of mainstream health care, we need to go through this process."

Some Minnesota members of the AOBTA disagree. Susan Scott, former state representative for the Minnesota chapter of the AOBTA and a former member of the Pro-Legislative Alliance, said several of her concerns went unheard in the push toward legislation.

"I think this bill is detrimental to us here in Minnesota as Asian bodywork therapists," she said. "It puts us under the board of chiropractic examiners, and they have no training in Chinese medicine, which is what [Asian bodywork therapy] is based on."

Such opposition to the bill, according to AMTA-MN lobbyist Bob Vanansek, poses the biggest challenge to its approval. "Not everyone in the massage and Asian bodywork community is supportive," he said. "The opposition has been very vocal."

One thing everyone seems to agree on is the uncertainty of the bill’s future.
"We’ve been at it for 12 years already, so it is anybody’s guess as to approval," said Kreuger. "Minnesota has a climate where any type of licensure is very difficult to achieve."
- Brandi Schlossberg