Water fluoridation: a larger look: By Leo Cashman
June 6, 2025
11 States and Growing: Safe Harbor Laws Protecting and Expanding Access to Healers
Across the country, people are embracing a wide range of healers. They’re seeking out herbalists, homeopaths, traditional naturopaths, Reiki practitioners, energy workers, and hundreds of other complementary and alternative health practitioners. But in most states, these unlicensed but highly valuable practitioners face legal risk—charged with “practicing medicine without a license” for simply offering safe, non-invasive help.
That’s where Safe Harbor laws come in. These state-level laws create legal exemptions for unlicensed practitioners who avoid prohibited acts (such as puncturing the skin or prescribing drugs) and provide consumers with clear disclosures about who they are and what services they offer.
So far, 11 states—including Minnesota, Rhode Island, Maine, Colorado, California, and Oklahoma—have passed Safe Harbor laws. In these states residents enjoy greater access to traditional, holistic, and culturally important forms of care.
Will Massachusetts Be The Next State to Pass a Safe Harbor Law?
Massachusetts held a powerful hearing last week on its Safe Harbor Practitioner Exemption Bill H.2504 / S.1481 An Act providing for consumer access to and the right to practice complementary and alternative health care services. Practitioners and advocates showed up to support legal protections for the practitioners who serve their communities.
“We support H.2504 and S.1481 because they protect both consumers and practitioners. These services are widely used—49% of Americans use alternative care, spending $30 billion annually out of pocket.”
—Steven O’Connor, Staff Attorney, NHFC/NHFA
“Our organization (NHFA) has been working with local activists for over two decades to help bring what we call Safe Harbor protections to their states.
—Nate Gorman, NHFA Legislative & Policy Advisor
“In 2017 the National Institutes of Health estimated that approximately four in 10 people are using some form of alternative or complementary care for the 7 million people living in Massachusetts, that’s close to 3 million people. I am one of them. For over 40 years, I have chosen to use alternative medicine exclusively, because I have found that it works. This bill costs nothing for the state to implement and reduces healthcare costs by keeping people healthier longer. The more accessible holistic medicine is, the happier its residents and the state healthcare budget will be.”
—Carol Bedrosian, Board member of Health Freedom Action Massachusetts (HFAMA)
“An unlicensed practitioner gave me my life back… yet he and his colleagues work in fear of the practice boards. The medical lobby wants to own healing. Please fix this.”
—Clark Reddick, Practitioner and Board member of Health Freedom Action Massachusetts (HFAMA)
“These natural practices in general are person centered, holistic, gentle and work with a person’s innate ability to heal.”
—Abby Beale, Nationally Certified Classical Homeopath
“These bills are not about creating loopholes or avoiding standards. On the contrary, they provide clear guidance, transparency and ethical boundaries for practitioners of complementary and alternative health services such as Reiki, meditation, breath work and sound therapy practices that are non-invasive, inherently low risk and deeply rooted in both tradition and modern healing science. What the safe harbor bill does not do is impose unnecessary licensure, bureaucratic oversight or burdensome fees on those of us working at the front lines of community wellness.”
—Anne Holland, Reiki Practitioner and Teacher
What can you do to help? If you practice or access complementary and alternative health care services in Massachusetts please send in written testimony in Support of this bill.
TAKE ACTION! SEND IN WRITTEN TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF H.2504 / S.1481 An Act providing for consumer access to and the right to practice complementary and alternative health care services.
Please include “Public Health Committee Testimony, H.2504 / S.1481″ in the subject line of the email, as well as your name, address, phone number, and organization, if any, on the submitted testimony. Written testimony is encouraged and will continue to be accepted after the hearing until the relevant bill is acted upon. Such testimony may be submitted via email to JointCommittee.PublicHealth@malegislature.gov.
Testimony can be physically mailed to the House Chair:
Chair Marjorie C. Decker Joint Committee on Public Health ATTN: Ramla Hagi 24 Beacon St., Room 130 Boston, MA 02133
While there is no specific deadline given, we suggest you submit your testimony as soon as possible. All matters filed in the House that are listed for this hearing are required to be reported on by September 12, 2025, subject to extensions consistent with House Rule 27.
Example Template To Help Write Your Testimony
(Month) (Day) (Year)
The Joint Committee on Public Health
The State House 24 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02133
RE: Testimony in Support of H.2504 and S.1471, An Act Providing for Consumer Access and the Right to Practice Complementary and Alternative Health Care Services
Dear Chairs and Members of the Committee:
My name is (your first and last name) (or I am writing on behalf of a business or organization) and I am a (type of practitioner, teacher or consumer) who resides in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
State why you support protecting unlicensed alternative and complementary health practitioners. Include a personal story, perhaps how you or someone you know benefited from this care. Tell the Committee how the law could affect you, your family, and your community and/or organization or business.
Include your own brief story. Example:
I want to voice my strong support for H.2504 and S.1471, as a law will protect existing holistic practitioners in Massachusetts and encourage new healers to set up practices.
I’ve personally benefited from seeing a variety of holistic and energy medicine practitioners over the past 20 years for things like headaches, joint pain, insomnia, and hormonal issues. I’m so grateful to have access to these kinds of options when I need them. As stress levels rise and more people struggle with chronic health issues, every state should want to make it easier—not harder—for residents to access complementary or alternative care. That’s why laws to protect these practitioners are so important.
Please vote yes on H.2504 and S.1471 An Act Providing for Consumer Access and the Right to Practice Complementary and Alternative Health Care Services. Thank you for your time and consideration of this issue.
Sincerely,
Your name
Street address
Town/City
What About Licensed doctors? NHFA has Model Expanded Practice Act for Licensed Professionals
Safe Harbor laws protect unlicensed practitioners—but what about licensed doctors, nurses, and therapists who want to offer complementary or alternative methods?
That’s why NHFA has also developed a Model Expanded Health Care Practice Act, designed to protect licensed professionals who go beyond the conventional standard of care. This legislation allows for use of complementary and alternative therapies as long as they:
Do not pose greater risk than conventional treatments
Are provided with reasonable skill and safety
Are accompanied by expanded disclosures and patient consent
