11/02/2016
We received the following email notice from the Colorado Division of Consumer Affairs (DORA) announcing an increase in the license and license renewal fees for massage therapists in Colorado:
______________________________________________________________________
Greetings from the Division of Professions and Occupations,
We are sending this e-mail to inform you about this year's fee increases. The initial application fee increased from $80 to $200, and the renewal fee increased from $76 to $179. The Division recognizes these are significant increases and certainly understands any concerns you may have for recent graduates and current licensees. Unfortunately, these types of increases occur when the costs of running the licensing program are significantly higher than expected.
Fees are determined by a specific program's spending activity during the previous year. The Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) sets the fees for all professions and occupations. Colorado law requires DORA to set licensing fees to cover the costs of administering the Office. Typically, the two largest costs are legal services and staffing. Legal services include the fees we pay to our lawyers. Over the last year, the program experienced a significant increase in legal spending due to several cases involving substandard care. This substandard care caused or threatened great consumer harm. So, these legal costs were necessary for us to protect the public, and resulted in multiple disciplinary actions, as well as other legal procedures to stop unlicensed practice. The Division strives to keep licensing fees low by minimizing the amount of regulations necessary to protect the public, and by administering the program as efficiently as possible.
We hope this e-mail helps all stakeholders better understand the reasons fees were increased significantly this year. If you have questions or need further information, please contact us at dora_massagetherapists@state.co.us
Regards,
Jo Donlin, Director of Regulatory Outreach and Education, Healthcare Branch
_______________________________________________________________________
ABMP will be meeting in person with DORA later this week to discuss and voice our opposition to this announcement, as it will result in a significant cost increase for licensees and license applicants in Colorado.