“Someone Else” Is Not Going to Protect Holistic Healthcare in Massachusetts; We Need YOU!

NO LONGER ACTIVE – Bill Not Passed Before Session Ended

Act NOW and Help Protect Massachusetts
Complementary and Alternative Practitioners

Massachusetts health freedom advocates are preparing for their safe harbor practitioner exemption bill to go to hearing. Please join them now!

Click Here and Take Action to SUPPORT Massachusetts Senate Bill 665/ House Bill 3660, “Protection and Access to Complementary and Alternative Health Care”.

The following alert comes from the boots-on-the-ground Massachusetts activists who are working hard to track and protect complementary and alternative health care in Massachusetts:
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Two bills to be heard this fall at the state house will determine the future of holistic health care in Massachusetts and a lot hangs in the balance. Even if you think politics is not for you, the only way to ensure your continued access to alternative health care is by adding your voice now! Failing to act at this time may seriously restrict your access to alternative health care in Massachusetts.

Please call, write, or visit your legislator now to make your position known.
Additionally, please email your very brief statement about either bill to machh7@gmail.com or carol@spiritofchange.org.

 STOP S168

“An Act Regulating Bodyworks,” aka “The Bodywork Bill”

S168 would require licensing of all bodyworkers in Massachusetts. Bodyworker is defined very broadly. All practitioners of REIKI, YOGA, POLARITY, ENERGY HEALING, FELDENKRAIS, JIN SHIN JYUTSU, and OVER ONE HUNDRED OTHER HOLISTIC MODALITIES would be required to obtain state-approved training for licensure and pay annual licensing fees to continue their current practices. We would lose many practitioners throughout the state.

This bill has been proposed twice in recent years and passed the Senate unanimously in 2018. It now has the backing of the Massachusetts Attorney General and many Chiefs of Police, and it is gaining momentum at the State House as a proposed solution to stop human sex trafficking, despite recent high-profile arrests that have shown human trafficking also takes place in licensed facilities. THE LICENSING OF HOLISTIC HEALING PROFESSIONALS WILL NOT DETER HUMAN TRAFFICKING; only criminal enforcement of human trafficking laws already on the books will.

S168 will negatively impact thousands of private holistic health care practices in Massachusetts, and allow the State to determine which modalities can be taught and licensed, needlessly restricting consumer and practitioner health care choices.

 SUPPORT S665/H3660

“Protection and Access to Complementary and Alternative Health Care,” aka “Safe Harbor Bill”

Holistic health care is not a protected right in Massachusetts; currently many experienced, highly qualified alternative practitioners are unlicensed and can be threatened with PRACTICING MEDICINE WITHOUT A LICENSE.

S665/H3660 protects non-licensed, compliant complementary and alternative health care professionals by securing an exemption for them from the medical practice act. A similar act has passed in 11 other states — most recently, Maine in 2019.

This bill is a proactive measure to ensure that these practitioners can continue to offer their services by agreeing to avoid common sense procedures, aka PROHIBITED ACTS, that could cause harm (such as puncturing the skin, administering radiation, prescribing pharmaceuticals, etc.) and by providing clients with REQUIRED DISCLOSURES describing their services, policies and disclaimers. This puts consumers in charge of making informed choices about their health care professionals.

S665/H3660 costs Massachusetts nothing to implement, protects holistic practitioners, boosts small businesses and provides consumers maximum health care choice and access to practitioners.

Legislators need to know how important alternative health care is to you! Take Action Now!

  1. It is vitally important that you register your position on these bills with your state senator and your representative. Find them here at this link: https://malegislature.gov/s earch/findmylegislator

  PLEASE CALL, WRITE, OR VISIT YOUR SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE NOW TO MAKE YOUR POSITIONS KNOWN. 

  1. Then write a short testimony — your personal story and opinion — of FEWER THAN 500 WORDS for one or both bills that will be given to committee members during the hearing for each bill. You can also choose to provide the testimony in person the day of the hearing. A wide variety of stories is needed, such as your return to health using holistic health care, successful use of your modality, success stories about your clients (names redacted), how, if passed, S168 would hurt your family financially as you would be unable to practice your modality, and how S665/H3660 if passed, would protect your livelihood or preferred form of health care.

Please include with each testimony, BILL NUMBER, YOUR NAME, PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION (if applicable), EMAIL, STREET ADDRESS, TOWN, STATE, ZIP and PHONE NUMBER. Residents of any state can submit testimony. You do not need to live in Massachusetts.

 STOP S168

Email your written testimony against S168 to Rita Glassman, Executive Director, MA Coalition of Holistic Practitioners at MACHH7@GMAIL.COM

SUPPORT S665/H3660

Email testimony in support of S665/H3660 to Carol Bedrosian at CAROL@SPIRITOFCHANGE.ORG

 ACT NOW! HEARINGS WILL LIKELY BEGIN IN SEPTEMBER 2019.

Failing to act at this time may seriously restrict your access to alternative health care in Massachusetts.