Support Massachusetts Bill SD.1085/HD.1169 to protect access to complementary and alternative health care practitioners

Great news! Massachusetts introduced SD.1085/HD.1169, a bill to protect access to complementary and alternative health care practitioners in Massachusetts!  Please thank the sponsors (Sen. Collins and Rep. Lawn) and cosponsors of the bill and ask your own legislators to sign on as a cosponsor too! The more support the bill has early on, the easier it will be to get it scheduled for a hearing once committee assignments are announced. Click Here to send a message to your legislators!  

If passed, Massachusetts would join eleven other states in protecting the thousands of wonderful complementary and alternative practitioners such as herbalists, homeopaths, traditional naturopaths, Ayurveda practitioners, energy healers, wellness consultants, and many others who are providing great services to health seekers in Massachusetts.  

To refresh your memory: the public hearing for this legislation in 2019 drew individuals from across the state – even from out of state – and the remarks were overwhelmingly positive.  No one spoke in opposition.  The bill was passed favorably out of the Joint Committee on Public Health and moved to the Joint Committee on Ways and Means just as COVID-19 shut down normal business operations.  Unfortunately, this legislation was moved aside and was not addressed before the end of the legislative session.  

SD.1085/HD.1169 is the perfect solution for Massachusetts’s long-term desire to have a law that protects access to its thousands of complementary and alternative health care practitioners.  Let’s make sure it passes this year!

 What the Bill Does:

The new law would provide a state exemption for those non-invasive complementary and alternative health care practitioners who avoid a specific list of prohibited conduct, such as puncturing the skin or administering prescription drugs, and who give out the disclosure information to their clients listed in the bill, before providing services, such as contact information, education and training, and the nature of the services to be rendered.

What you can do:

1.  Take Action here to send a message of support for 1085/HD.1169 to your personal legislators. Please take the time to write a personal note on your letter as this will have a greater impact with the legislators. Start building a relationship with your personal Senate and House Representatives.

2. Call your legislators to leave a message reiterating your support of 1085/HD.1169. Identify who your legislators are here and use their contact info to leave a message with each office letting them know why you support SD.1085/HD.1169.

The message for your personal legislators: “As a constituent of [Senator/ Representative] [Insert Your Legislator’s Last Name] I want [him/her] to know that I support SD.1085/HD.1169, the “Consumer Access and Right to Practice Complementary and Alternative Health Care” bill.  Please tell the [Senator/Representative] that I want [him/her] to become a cosponsor SD.1085/HD.1169 and to vote “yes” on the bill when it comes before [him/her] for a vote”   

“[Insert your own brief reason why you support access to complementary and alternative health care (i.e., I depend on complementary and alternative health care for myself and my family and I want Massachusetts law to protect my rights as a consumer to a free and educated choice in health care providers.)]

Thank you.”

3. Support your local advocacy team “The Committee for Protection and Access to Complementary and Alternative Health Care”, a project of hfama.org”: a group of practitioners and consumers of complementary and alternative health care that is committed to providing the people of Massachusetts with the options they deserve in pursuit of health and wellness. They are working closely with NHFA to pass SD.1085/HD.1169 into law.  Please check out their website, sign-up for their emails, and consider donating your time, talent, or other resources to support their efforts. 

4. When Hearings are scheduled, please plan to testify in support of the bill. Your elected state legislators are interested in your views on proposed legislation. Speaking, or providing written testimony, at a public hearing is an effective way to let them know your opinion (and it’s even more effective when they already know who you are (see steps 1 and 2, above)).  Please start preparing your testimony now and stay in touch with NHFA and hfama.org for updates on committee assignments and hearings scheduled for SD.1085/HD.1169.  

5. Spread the word about 1085/HD.1169! Please forward this email to your friends and family so they can Take Action to support SD.1085/HD.1169 too.

THANK YOU for your commitment to Health Freedom!  If you have questions, contact us at info@nationalhealthfreedomaction.org