Bill Extending Massage Therapy Regulation in Colorado Signed Into Law

Senate bill 151 extends the Colorado Massage Therapy Practice Act, the law that regulates massage therapists in Colorado, until 2022. SB 151 does not make any drastic changes to the existing massage law; however, it does include a title change for the profession. Under the new law, massage therapists will be required to obtain a “license,” instead of a “registration,” in order to practice, and therefore will be titled as Licensed Massage Therapists. This title is consistent with the rest of the country and we believe it will mean more to consumers. The requirements for licensure will be the same as they have been for registration: 500 hours of massage therapy education, passage of a national massage exam, successful completion of a background check, and adequate liability insurance. The bill also updates the grounds for discipline, streamlines the process for applicants who attended out-of-state schools, and specifies that applicants who have been denied a license must wait two years to re-apply. On July 1, 2014, each active massage therapy registration becomes an active massage therapy license automatically. As of that date, RMT’s may begin using the LMT title. Please be aware of this upcoming change when ordering new business cards or any other marketing tools. Governor Hickenlooper also signed Senate bill 26 into law, which adds massage therapists and others to the list of health care professionals who must disclose certain information about their practice history to the state for inclusion in a publicly available database when they are applying for or renewing their registration.