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ABMP Legislative Report
Minnesota 6/4/04 3/29/04 2/20/04 Minnesota Bill of Rights (copy and paste into word to modify) 1/31/03 10/27/00 7/7/00 3/16/00 6/4/04: Minnesota's regular legislative session ended on May 12, 2004. Senate file 689 never made it out of committee. According to Senator Kiscaden (District 30, Rochester), "I had hoped a slimmed down version would reduce opposition to the bill...that has not been the case. Opposition remains strong." 3/29/04: Senate File 689 has seen much activity this month. When the bill left the Health and Family Security committee, it was stripped down to something that ABMP could not support. Key elements missing were the massage therapy advisory committee, accommodations for a transitional period (grandfathering) and local pre-emption (pre-emption means that someone securing a registration under this proposed law would be exempt from local massage professional licensing.) As of March 25, 2004, municipal pre-emption and grandfathering have returned to the language of the bill and it has been referred to the Finance committee. The current bill establishes requirements for the voluntary registration of massage therapists and Asian bodywork therapists. If the bill were to pass, as is, effective January 1, 2005, therapists in the state would be provided one year to apply for registration. For the one-year period through December 31, 2005 they could qualify in either of two ways: A) be at least 18 years of age, have a high school diploma or the equivalent, provide evidence of current liability insurance, have a passing score on the National Certification Exam or a board-approved equivalent exam and one of the following:
B) be at least 18 years of age, provide a notarized affidavit stating completion of 100 hours of supervised instruction, have a minimum of one year Minnesota residency, and meet any two of the following:
Beginning in 2006, applicants could only qualify for registered status by satisfying the criteria in A) above. For individuals who elect not to pursue registered status, the regulatory environment would not change from what it is today. Members in the state have expressed concern related to the loss of the advisory committee. Our understanding of this modification is that a need for an advisory committee was deemed to no longer exist since the Chiropractic Board duties are now limited to determining receipt and completeness of the necessary forms, issuing registrations to qualified applicants, and maintaining the official listing of registered therapists. It is important to recognize that while this bill speaks to voluntary registration, some of its proponents see it as an initial step toward a licensing practice act. If such a future proposal is made, then it would be important that supervision come from a body on which massage therapists and Asian Bodyworkers constitute a majority. Under such a mandatory licensing act reconsideration should also be given to whether passing a national exam is appropriate and necessary. ABMP encourages you to be involved in this process. To obtain a complete copy of the bill, visit www.leg.state.mn.us. To express your position on the bill and/or to ensure key elements remain within the bill (e.g. the one year grandfathering and pre-emption of local laws), contact your representative and the key members of the legislature that we have identified below. We will continue to track the progress of the bill and post updates to the Members Section at www.abmp.com. Please be sure to update your ABMP file while you are visiting the website, so that your current email address can be utilized for future mailings! Senator Sheila Kiscaden (IP-30) Sen.Sheila.kiscaden@senate.mn (651) 296-4848 Representative Jim Abeler (R-48B) rep.jim.abeler@house.mn (651) 296-1729 Sen. Linda Higgins (DFL-58) sen.linda.higgins@senate.mn (651) 296-9246 Rep. John Dorn (DFL-23B) rep.john.dorn@house.mn (651) 296-3248 Sen. David Knutson (R-37) sen.david.knutson@senate.mn (651) 296-4120 Rep. Doug Lindgren (R-02B) rep.doug.lindgren@house.mn (651) 296-4265 Sen. Becky Lourey (DFL-08) sen.becky.lourey@senate.mn (651) 296-0293 Rep. Bud Nornes (R-10A) rep.bud.nornes@house.mn (651) 296-4946 Sen. Claire A. Robling (R-35) sen.claire.robling@senate.mn (651) 296-4123 Assistant Minority Leader Rep. Mary Ellen Otremba (DFL-11B) rep.maryellen.otremba@house.mn (651) 296-3201 Sen. Dallas C. Sams (DFL-11) Mail form available on website (651) 297-8063 2/20/04: Senate File 689 was introduced early in the 2003-2004 legislative session and referred to the Committee on Health and Family Security. If passed, massage therapists and Asian Bodywork Therapists would have a voluntary state registration credential available to them. Grandfathering options for currently practicing therapists and bodyworkers include a notorized affidavit by the applicant stating completion of 100 hours of supervised instruction or training and any two of the following: . a notroized affidavit stating applicant has been in practice for at least 2 years with a minimum of 150 documented client hours per year; OR . evidence of maintaining current membership in a national professional association; OR . evidence of maintaining current professional liability insurance; OR . photocopies of ten weeks from the applicant's appointment book accompanied by an affidavit stating the appointments indicated are evidence of clientele. Qualifications for new registrants require they be 18 years of age or older, have obtained a high school diploma or the equivalent, evidence of current professional liability insurance, successful completion of the National Certification Examination or the Comprehensive Written Examination in Asian Bodywork Therapy (or equivalent exams) and either 500 classroom hours of supervised instruction or meeting the portfolio review testing qualifications for the examining body. Applicants must also pass a jurisprudence examination. The chief author of the bill is Senator Linda Higgins. You can reach Senator Higgis at sen.linda.higgins@senate.mn or (651) 296-9246 1/31/03: Effective August 1, 2002 services such as shiatsu, ohashiatsu and reflexology are considered to be taxable in Minnesota. Since 1987, massage therapists in Minnesota have been required to collect sales tax on their services. If you are not collecting sales tax, you can contact the Minnesota Sales tax registration unit to register for collection. They can be reached at (651) 282-5225. Click here www.taxes.state.mn.us to obtain more information on sales taxes in Minnesota. We encourage you to review Fact Sheet 162. By entering the business section of this site, you will be able to obtain the Sales Tax instruction book as well as the necessary forms for filing. 10/27/00: A message from Gayle E. Burdick, Coalition of Massage Therapists and Oriental Bodywork Therapists: What would voluntary State Registration of massage therapists mean in Minnesota? Legal issues are not anybody's favorite thing- except for lawyers. Certainly none of us wanted to become massage therapists in order to learn about massage parlor ordinances and state laws. But here we are, in a profession that is regulated in many cities by ordinances originally intended to regulate massage parlors and prostitutes rather than therapists. So a bill has been offered in the Minnesota Legislature that would give massage therapists and Oriental bodywork therapists a choice about where we are regulated- House File 685/Senate File 1042. It is a voluntary registration bill with limited title protection. It is not a law yet and so it is not in effect. But I'd like to explain what would and would not happen if this bill becomes law. What does "voluntary registration" mean, and how is it different from licensing? Voluntary registration means that a massage therapist could choose whether to register with the state or not. If you choose not to register with the state, you could still use the title "Massage Therapist," and nothing would change for you from how it is now. If your city has a local ordinance that requires you to have a license, you would still have to do that. If you choose to register with the state once the bill is passed, you would be exempt from your city's local licensing ordinance, and you could use the title "State Registered Massage Therapist" or "State Registered Oriental Bodywork Therapist." You could qualify to register in either of the two following ways: 1) Show proof of graduation from a 500-hour program in massage therapy or oriental bodywork therapy, a passing score on the National Certification Examination, and professional liability insurance, OR 2) ONLY during the first year the law would be in effect, you could qualify by providing ANY TWO of the following four: a) A notarized affidavit stating that you have been in practice for at least two years with a minimum of 150 documented client hours each year. b) Evidence of maintaining current professional liability insurance c) Evidence of maintaining current membership in a national professional association d) Photocopies of 10 weeks from the applicant's current and/or past appointment books accompanied by an affidavit state that the appointments indicated are evidence of massage therapy clientele. NOTE: As a certified, professional, or practitioner level with ABMP, you meet requirements b) and c) above and would qualify to register during the first year, or transition period, sometimes referred to as grandparenting. To renew registration after two years, you would only have to meet the continuing education requirements that would eventually be set for all registrants wanting to renew their registrations. You would NOT have to go to school to come up to 500 hours of training in order to renew. Remember, you could choose not to register and you could stay in practice. This is not a licensing bill. It is different from a licensing bill because licensing would say, "You have to meet certain qualifications or you are out of business." Instead, this bill offers you a choice about where you are regulated- by your city or by the state. What would state registration cost? The office that would administer the registration if the bill passes has estimated that the cost to each practitioner would be less than $100 every two year. This is considerably less than many of us pay to be licensed under city massage parlor laws. For example, in St. Paul, a practitioner in an office building pays more than $250 each year to practice, and a practitioner working at home pays even more. Isn't this a monopoly for the schools? Some people who oppose any state regulation of massage therapy or oriental bodywork therapy have said that the massage schools will control all the continuing education in Minnesota if the bill passes. This is not true. The bill allows any individual to apply to become a continuing education provider. Won't all the cities require state registration? No one who has been working in support of this bill has any plans to take the time and energy it would take to work with every city to make that happen. In addition, most of the cities prefer to maintain control rather than handing it over to the state. Those of us who support this bill believe that it is enough to give practitioners a choice about where we wish to be regulated. To my knowledge, only the City of Bloomington plans at this time to require state registration for all massage therapists there. But that doesn't change anything because Bloomington already has a city ordinance that requires 500 hours of schooling for any massage therapist practicing in that city. What about the freedom to practice bill for complementary practitioners? A different bill that has been passed by the Minnesota Legislature, the freedom to practice law restricts the ways in which the state could take legal action against complementary and alternative health care providers. It grew out of a movement to support naturopath Helen Healy when she was prosecuted by the Attorney General several years ago. Since naturopaths hold themselves out to be naturopathic "physicians," and massage therapists do not use the title "physician," their legal considerations are different from ours. However, that law does list massage t herapists in the list of practitioners that it covers. That law does not allow you to become exempt from your local massage parlor ordinance. It does not register you with the state. It does not give you a license. It does require you to provide all clients with a "Client Bill of Rights" for them to sign and for you to keep on file. The required contents of that form are listed in the law. If you have any questions about state regulation of massage therapy and oriental bodywork therapy in Minnesota, please feel free to contact Gayle Burdick, Coalition of Massage Therapists and Oriental Bodywork Therapists at (800)461-1046. 7/7/00: Governor Jesse Ventura signed House File 3839 into law on May 11, 2000. The bill provides for regulation of unlicensed complementary and alternative health care practitioners working in the state of Minnesota. Effective July 1, 2001, Minnesota therapists will need to follow the guide lines of The Alternative Health Care Freedom of Access Act - HF3839. The bill includes "bodywork, massage, massage therapy and traditional Oriental practices" within the broad definition of Complementary and alternative health care practices. The bill creates the Office of Unlicensed Complementary and Alternative Health Care Practic in the Department of Health to investigate complaints and take and enforce disciplinary actions against all unlicensed complementary and alternative health care practitioners for violations of prohibited conduct. Following is an excerpt from the bill defining prohibited conduct: Section 17. [146A.08]. Subdivision 1. PROHIBITED CONDUCT. The following conduct is prohibited and is grounds for disciplinary action: (a) Conviction of a crime, including a finding or verdict of guilt, an admission of guilt, or a no-contest plea, in any court in Minnesota or any other jurisdiction in the United S tates, reasonably related to engaging in complementary and alternative health care practices. Conviction, as used in this subdivision, includes a conviction of an offense which, if committed in this state, would be deemed a felony, gross misdemeanor, or misdemeanor, without regard to its designation elsewhere, or a criminal proceeding where a finding or verdict of guilty is made or returned but the adjudication of guilt is either withheld or not entered. (b) Conviction of any crime against a person. (c) Failure to comply with the self-reporting requirements of section 146A.03, subdivision 7. (d) Engaging in sexual contact with a complementary and alternative health care client or former client, engaging in contact that may be reasonably interpreted by a client as sexual, engaging in any verbal behavior that is seductive or sexually demeaning to the patient, or engaging in sexual exploitation of a client or former client. For purposes of this clause, "former client" means a person who has obtained services from the unlicensed complementary and alternative health care practitioner within the past two years. (e) Advertising that is false, fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading. (f) Conduct likely to deceive, defraud, or harm the public or demonstrating a willful or careless disregard for the health, welfare, or safety of a complementary and alternative health care client; or any other practice that may create danger to any client's life, health, or safety, in any of which cases, proof of actual injury need not be established. (g) Adjudication as mentally incompetent or as a person who is dangerous to self or adjudication pursuant to chapter 253B as chemically dependent, mentally ill, mentally retarded, mentally ill and dangerous to the public, or as a sexual psychopathic personality or sexually dangerous person. (h) Inability to engage in complementary and alternative health care practices with reasonable safety to complementary and alternative health care clients. (i) The habitual overindulgence in the use of or the dependence on intoxicating liquors. (j) Improper or unauthorized personal or other use of any legend drugs as defined in chapter 151, any chemicals as defined in chapter 151, or any controlled substance as defined in chapter 152. (k) Revealing a communication from, or relating to, a complementary and alternative health care client except when otherwise required or permitted by law. (l) Failure to comply with a complementary and alternative health care client's request made under section 144.335 or to furnish a complementary and alternative health care client record or report required by law. (m) Splitting fees or promising to pay a portion of a fee to any other professional other than for services rendered by the other professional to the complementary and alternative health care client. (n) Engaging in abusive or fraudulent billing practices, including violations of the federal Medicare and Medicaid laws or state medical assistance laws. (o) Failure to make reports as required by section 146A.03 or cooperate with an investigation of the office. (p) Obtaining money, property, or services from a complementary and alternative health care client, other than reasonable fees for services provided to the client, through the use of undue influence, harassment, duress, deception, or fraud. (q) Undertaking or continuing a professional relationship with a complementary and alternative health care client in which the objectivity of the unlicensed complementary and alternative health care practitioner would be impaired. (r) Failure to provide a complementary and alternative health care client with a copy of the client bill of rights or violation of any provision of the client bill of rights. (s) Violating any order issued by the commissioner. (t) Failure to comply with any provision of sections 146A.01 to 146A.11 and the rules adopted under those sections. (u) Failure to comply with any additional disciplinary grounds established by the commissioner by rule. (v) Revocation, suspension, restriction, limitation, or other disciplinary action against any health care license, certificate, registration, or right to practice of the unlicensed complementary and alternative health care practitioner in this or another state or jurisdiction for offenses that would be subject to disciplinary action in this state or failure to report to the office that charges regarding the practitioner's license, certificate, registration, or right of practice have been brought in this or another state or jurisdiction. (w) Use of the title "doctor," "Dr.," or "physician" alone or in combination with any other words, letters, or insignia to describe the complementary and alternative health care practices the practitioner provides. (x) Failure to provide a complementary and alternative health care client with a recommendation that the client see a health care provider who is licensed or registered by a health-related licensing board or the commissioner of health, if there is a reasonable likelihood that the client needs to be seen by a licensed or registered health care provider. For a complete copy of the Bill, visit http://www.leg.state.mn.us/ and click on Legislation and Bill Tracking. 3/16/00: In an effort to be more inclusive, the Coalition of Massage Therapists and Oriental Bodywork Therapists in Minnesota has compromised on one of the key points of disagreement regarding House File 685 / Senate File 1042. New language since the last Legislative Session establishes the following less restrictive title protection: A massage therapist who chooses NOT to register with the state could remain in practice and could still use the terms "massage," "massage therapy," and "massage therapist." The bill DOES NOT REQUIRE a practitioner to register with the state in order to use these terms. Practitioners who choose not to register would still have to meet the requirements of their local ordinances. Protected titles would be "State Registered Massage Therapist" or "Registered Massage Therapist." Practitioners would have to meet the requirements in the bill or be grandparented during the first year to use either of these titles. Practitioners who register would be exempt from local licensing ordinances. If you have questions or concerns regarding the proposed legislation, please put them in writing and send them to the Coalition at 348 Prior Avenue North, Suite 103, St. Paul, MN 55104-5157 or you may call (800)461-1046. To determine if a bill has been filed, visit www.leg.state.mn.us. The new version of the bill will not be available until after the first committee hearing, which is yet to be scheduled. |