Minnesota Touch Movement Network
(formerly known as the Minnesota Therapeutic Massage Network)

MTMN—Minnesota Therapeutic Massage Network also known as Minnesota Touch Movement Network.

We are a non-profit organization, run by and for practitioners and we are not affiliated with any school or insurance group. We have been supporting and protecting the practice of massage, touch therapy and somatic education since 1981. Our board members are volunteers. We do not have paid lobbyists.

The MTMN Has Been A Proponent Of Good Regulation

The MTMN has been purported to be opposed to regulation and yet we have helped pass to important pieces of legislation in the state of Minnesota, the Statute 146.A MN Health Care Freedom Act and the amendment to Chapter 609. Both consumer protection laws and supported by consumers and practitioners.

And yet the proponents did not support either of these bills. They have publicly, including influencing an I-Team report, denigrated the 146.A, instead of using it as a teaching opportunity.

The 146.A has allowed practitioners of many modalities to practice without creating any turf wars. (From the proponent's own documents)…"This organization [the AMTA] serves as an equivalent to the United Nations, in dealings between these related but separate forms of manual therapy, in areas such as state regulations, scope of practice, and other areas that may negatively effect the ability of practitioners of that field to practice."

The 609 raised the penalty for massage therapists who are sexual predators to a felony. The MTMN testified in favor of the amendment before the Crime Victims Subcommittee. Sadly for our profession, Kaarin Long of the The Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA), which is a voice for victims/survivors, sexual assault programs, and allies committed to ending sexual violence, stated that she had contacted the ABMP for support and received a reply stating that they could only offer a neutral stance.

Though Touted As A Voluntary Registration, Cities Can Make This Mandatory.

Potentially even more cities, as witnessed in other voluntary registration states.

City Prostitution Issues

Lisa McDonald, past Minneapolis city council member — "In all the time I was a council member and even during the times we talked about licensing, we never had a case of a complaint against a massage therapist. We got much better results when we focused on saunas, instead of therapists, because that was where the illegality was. Kathy Thurber [also a council member] wanted to introduce ordinance language against massage therapists but the city later changed course when it realized that they weren't the problem, but rather saunas."

Florida has a long-standing licensure program and yet you can get a massage (?) from a company called Oriental Mystery Massage? It is known that the prostitutes go through the schooling and receive their licenses. It still requires undercover work; the 146.A is an easier tool than licensure to weed out prostitution.

Cost To Consumers

Prices will not come down; they will stay the same and even rise. As the field becomes narrower, eliminating part-timers, (many who have just been making ends meet), the choices of practitioners are changed and the cost goes up.
Florida and Washington have licensing and are twice the going rate for a session in MN.

Education Hours Can Go Down

Massage And Bodywork Professionals, Powered by Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) Comment by Lori Bradshaw on February 18, 2010 at 9:42pm [Instructor/school owner]
"Sorry for the misunderstanding, I meant they were required by many cities to take 720 hours for their city licenses, not that they needed that many hours to provide a quality massage. Not my students anyway. They are awesome after their first 100-hour class, better than many therapists after completing the 720-hour programs at other schools. But now that they only need 500 for their state certification, too many of them are content with that. And some of them, to my chagrin, are applying with only 250 hours. For us, it means a slow down. The serious students continue on with their education, just at a slower pace."

Harm To Practitioners

Schools that have offered 250 hours of training would see a return of students. The Minneapolis School of Massage and Bodywork, Inc. offered 250 hours with a promise to help if a bill went through requiring more hours, the school closed a couple of years ago, with no recourse for the students.

Though many people have joined a national group for the liability insurance, not all have taken a national test. This would cost time and money for easily 1,000 people who are already practicing and many only part-time.

Most professions require several years of field experience before applying for a national exam. Many massage schools not only teach to the test but also use the national exam as their student's final exam.

Employers Responsibilities

Screening for employers would be done by the license. (B. Safety and Efficacy, 19 B. Financial Consequences) (from the proponent's own documents).
Our response — Licensed professional fields such as clergy, nurses, doctors, and psychologists go through background checks as part of their hiring process despite being licensed. Nursing students are required have a background check to apply for school.

Medical Recognition

(From the proponent's own documents)…The following twin cities metro hospitals have or have had massage therapists employed or volunteering to work on their patients and staff (listed here alphabetically):

• Abbott Northwestern-Minneapolis, MN-Allina Hospitals & Clinics
• Mayo Clinic-Rochester, MN-Mayo Health System
• Hennepin County Medical Center-Minneapolis, MN
• Regions Hospital-St Paul-Health Partners System
• Woodwinds-Woodbury-Park Nicollett
• Fairview University
• Fairview Ridges
• N Memorial-Robbinsdale

BC/BS has a massage practitioner referral program for their members, however, they are not taking on any new providers licensed or not, (Marriage and Family counselors have been denied.)

MN Statute 214 Requires Proof Of Harm

And yet (from the proponent's own documents)…the medical literature does not have much for documentation of massage therapy clients being harmed. (B. Safety and Efficacy, 19. C. Physical Consequences) AND (C. Government and Private Sector Recognition) 30. "Is malpractice insurance widely available to members of the occupation? What information is available about members of the occupation from malpractice monitoring services? Malpractice insurance for massage therapists is quite inexpensive due in large part to the rarity of massage by a trained massage therapist causing physical harm (Ernst, 2003; Studdert et al, 1998)"

The ABMP provides a list of complaints filed against their liability insurance. On closer examination they appear to be injuries from a slip and fall claim, which is the industry's recognized primary risk. One insurance group says that the slip and fall factor is 99+% of their claims. Oddly, the ABMP requires the same educational standards as the HF1503 bill, yet injury happened.

Complaints made to the OCAP were about fuzzy boundary problems. The proponent's document, Appendix #3, shows how well our criminal laws WORK. Criminal cases go directly to the police, not a board. Plus, because of the Chapter 609, these predators will not be able to work in MN or elsewhere in the country.

Submitted by Barbara York, MTMN President