CAMBS
California Alliance of Massage and Bodywork Schools	January 2004

AB1388 Update

 AMTA-CA representatives have announced that they have decided to table AB 1388 for the time being. This means that at this time they will take no action on the bill, although it could be revived for this legislative session or reintroduced in 2005.

When contacted on January 5, 2004, Lou Correa’s office (chairman of the Assembly Committee on Business and Professions) said that the bill will definitely not be acted on this year, although it could be revived in 2005. However, since then the bill has been amended and re-referred to the B&P committee. There are still two small errors and a major one, which is that the 250 hour education requirement for the massage practitioner was deleted in error. Beverly May, of the AMTA-CA, says that these remaining errors will be corrected.

State Senator Correa intends to hold an informational meeting on AB 1388, likely in March 2004. According to Correa and his Principal Consultant David Pacheco, such informational meetings are a common follow up to a regulatory bill not having consensus within the affected profession. This informational meeting will likely have substantial impact on whether or not any future or reintroduced bill attempting to legislate massage is likely to be considered by the legislature. Send your comments to Lou Correa directly, at the following address:

_{Lou Correa, B&P Committee}

_{State Capitol,
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0069
(916) 319-2069}

_{ABMP Hires Lobbyist}

ABMP has announced that it has retained the services of the firm of Foley and Lardner, lobbyists, to represent their members’ interests in California. “The stakes are important enough for ABMP members that it is time to retain counsel experienced in the ways of legislative development,” says Bob Benson, president of ABMP. Although it is far from certain that the bill will survive, Bensons said “we want a lobbyist on the scene to respond if 11th hour, unsatisfactory proposals are advanced by others.” Address any questions or comments to Bob Benson at ABMP, via their website, www.abmp.com.

BPPVE Sunset Review

_{The Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education is currently under review by the Assembly and Senate Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee. There will be a hearing by the Joint Committee in March to review a special report on the Bureau. Any school director who is interested in the March hearing should call the Joint Committee at 916-324-2506. School owners in California will definitely be affected by any change in the Bureau, so this is of vital interest to our members. For more information or to comment on the Education Reform Act or Bureau itself, contact the committee chair person, Senator Liz Figueroa at the following address:}

_{State Capitol, Room 4061
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-6671
Fax (916) 327-2433.}

Changes to STRF – SB 967

_{Last year while the massage industry was embroiled in the effort for and against massage licensing in California, the Senate passed Senate Bill 967 which has significant language affecting massage schools that collect STRF funds.}

_{SB 967 makes special assessments legal and imposes a cap on the amount of any special assessment, but not on the number of times the Bureau can make a special assessment. Special assessments will be considered a credit against future STRF payments, and it appears that special assessments can be passed through to students although it isn’t clear how this would be done.}

_{The full text of SB 967, Section 9, has been posted on the CAMBS website and is available for your review. Other bills passed last year of interest to us include the following:}

_{SB 364 requires the BPPVE to work with the Joint Legislative Sunset Review Committee to revise the Education Reform Act and also requires the BPPVE to develop outreach programs for high school students to inform them on how to choose a vocational school.}

 SB 907 establishes until July 1, 2009, the Naturopathic Doctors Act (Act), to be administered by the State Bureau of Naturopathic Medicine (Bureau), which this bill creates within the State Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA).

Alternate Considerations

_{The purpose of AB 1388, or indeed any regulatory legislation, is to protect the public. There is no proof that massage is a danger to the public, or that any of the public have been seriously harmed by massage therapists. Since it appears that AB 1388 won’t be voted on this legislative session, there is time to for a discussion of alternatives to licensing massage therapists which could achieve the same goal of protecting the public.}

_{According to Keith Eric Grant, Medline citations of massage related injuries from 1965 to 2003 indicated only 11 cases in over 12 million reported medical citations. There was no pattern of repeated injuries nor significant statistics to support concern.1}

_{Industry-wide, insurance rates increase in relation to increases in claims. Rates that massage therapists pay for liability insurance (a percentage of dues paid to professional associations) have not significantly increased in ten years, which means that although the number of massage therapists has increased, claims have not increased. 2}

_{Rather than create a new regulatory board, there are two simple suggestions that might better serve the public and our students. One step would be to give SB 577 more impact by teaching our students and graduates how to implement this law, and by notifying cities and counties that they have this additional tool available for regulating massage in their communities.}

_{The second step would be to have a minimum requirement of subjects that must be taught in an entry-level curriculum, including emphasis on contraindications, health and safety as well as adequate instruction in massage skills, licensing requirements, self-care and and related subjects.}

_{A minimum curriculum would ensure that all schools in California teach certain necessary information to entry-level students, but the schools would also be free to teach any additional courses they desire. Rather than requiring all schools to make major changes in their curriculum, this would mean that the schools with the very shortest programs would have to make some small changes, and all schools would be required to teach safety, health and contraindications.}

_{SB 577}

_{Even though massage is not a harmful profession and there is little risk to the public, there is some confusion in the public mind about the benefits and purpose of massage, and even more confusion about the many kinds of massage available to the public. Rather than creating a new regulatory body, it may serve the public better if massage therapists follow the requirements of SB 577, which became law in 2002.}

_{The act requires that non-licensed (that means no state license) health care providers abstain from certain specific activities, and disclosed their training, practices, and the theory of their type of work to the customer. They are required to present these disclosures in writing to the client, obtain the client’s signature on a form acknowledging receipt of the disclosures, give a copy of the signed document to the client and keep the original on file. If these requirements are followed, the public would be able to make informed choices and to compare the education and services of different massage therapists.}

_{As stated in SB 577, unlicensed health practitioners are NOT allowed to do the following:}

_{· Conduct surgery or any other procedure on another person that punctures the skin or harmfully invades the body.}

_{· Administer or prescribe x-ray radiation to another person}

_{· Prescribe or administer legend drugs or controlled substances to another person.}

_{· Recommend the discontinuance of legend drugs or controlled substances prescribed by an appropriately licensed practitioner.}

_{· Willfully diagnose and treat a physical or mental condition of any person under circumstances or conditions that cause or create risk of great bodily harm, serious physical or mental illness, or death.}

_{· Set fractures.}

_{· Treat lacerations or abrasions through electrotherapy.}

_{· Hold out, state, indicate, advertises, or imply to a client or prospective client that he or she is a physician, a surgeon, or a physician and surgeon.}

_{Unlicensed health practitioners are REQUIRED to disclose to the client, in a written statement using plain language, the following information:}

_{· That he or she is not a licensed physician and that the treatment is alternative or complementary to healing arts services licensed by the state.}

_{· That the services to be provided are not licensed by the state.}

_{· The nature of the services to be provided.}

_{· The theory of treatment upon which the services are based.}

_{· His or her educational, training, experience, and other qualifications regarding the services to be provided.}

_{· Obtain a written acknowledgement from the client stating that he or she has been provided with the required information. The client shall be provided with a copy of the written acknowledgement, which shall be maintained by the person providing the service for three years.}

_{More information about SB 577 and a sample form can be found on line at the CAMBS website listed at the bottom of this page.}

_Curriculum

_{Judith McKinnon (McKinnon Institute) has said that the 100-hour practitioner is the backbone of the profession in California. It is true that the majority of practicing massage therapists in California have taken basic training courses of less than 250 hours and have served their clients well for many years. Since it is possible, and indeed is the norm, for students to take entry-level training and begin working, the public would be well-served if massage schools are diligent about teaching contraindications, health and safety in their entry-level courses.}

_{In 1998 the BPPVE formed a task force in an effort to create a minimum curriculum standard for massage schools. The question the task force grappled with was, "how much training, and in what subjects, is necessary to turn out graduates that are competent in one modality, safe (no harm to public or selves), and marketable (able to get a job.)”}

_{Although the task force never finished its project, CAMBS has been working on it since then. At almost every CAMBS meeting, school owners and managers have discussed and outlined the topics that at a minimum should be taught to every massage student and how many hours it takes to cover this specific material in a basic massage course.}

_{Such a curriculum, based on content and needs, would more accurately reflect the practice of massage in the real world, and would serve the needs of the students and the public, rather than creating an artificial curriculum in an attempt to fill up the number of hours required by a round-number established before content and needs were analyzed.}

_{Information on the results of CAMBS’s research into massage curriculum, and CAMBS’s recommendations, can be found at the CAMBS website. The url is listed at the bottom of this page.}

[1] Grant, K.E., Ph.D. “Injuries Reported in Medline as Related to the Practice of Therapeutic Massage – 1965 to 2003” accepted for publication in Journal of Bodywork and Massage Therapies.

2 Studdert DM, Eisenberg DM, Miller FH, Curto DA, Kaptchuk, TJ, 1998 Medical Malpractice Implications of Alternative Medicine. The Journal of the American Medical Association 280:1610-1615

CAMBS Board of Directors

_{Director: Teresa Reynolds Nead}

_{The Body Institute}

_{(916) 791-1951}

_{^{teresa@bodyinstitute.com}}

_{Treasurer: Birgit Ball-Eisner}

_{Monterey Institute of Touch}

_{27820 Dorris Drive}

_{Carmel, CA 93923}

_{(831) 624-1006}

_{^{mit@redshift.com}}

_{Secretary: Ramona Moody French}

_{Somatherapy, Inc.}

_{(760) 323-5806}

_{ramona@camassageschools.org}

_{Send dues or registration fees to Birgit Ball Eisner. Send letters to the editor to Ramona Moody French. Send other correspondence to Teresa Nead.}

_{Annual dues: $100.00}

_{Meeting fees: $50.00 per school for members}

_{$50.00 per person for non-members}

Registration Form - CAMBS Meeting

Location: Las Vegas, NV

Date: April 30, 2004

Time: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Registration Fee: $50.00 per school (members)

$50.00 per person (non-member)

To register for the meeting, please fill out and submit this form with payment to:

CAMBS Meeting Registration

_{Monterey Institute of Touch}

_{27820 Dorris Drive}

Carmel, CA 93923

Name _____________________________________________

Title _____________________________________________

School ____________________________________________

Address ___________________________________________

City/State/Zip Code__________________________________

Telephone__________________________________________

Fax Number ________________________________________

Email address _______________________________________

* Check here if 2004 dues ($100.00) are included with this registration.

Total Enclosed $__________________________________

When the registration form and payment are received, we will send you further information about the meeting, including agenda, location, hotel information, etc.

_{The next CAMBS meeting has been scheduled to be held on April 30, 2004 in Las Vegas, the day before the opening of the International Esthetics, Cosmetics and Spa Conference at the Las Vegas Hilton Convention Center (May 1, 2, & 3, 2004). This gives everyone attending the CAMBS meeting an opportunity to also attend the Esthetics/Spa conference. There will be hundreds of manufacturers and distributors of massage and spa products as well as many interesting classes for continuing education.}

_{To register for the CAMBS meeting, send in the completed registration form to Birgit Ball-Eisner, Treasurer, at Monterey Institute of Touch, at the address on the form. The meeting fee is $50.00 per member school, and $50.00 per person from non-member schools. The meeting is open to school owners and administrators only.}

_{To register for the Esthetics Trade Show, contact Show Management at the address below:}

International Esthetics, Cosmetics & Spa Conference

May 1, 2 & 3, 2004

Las Vegas Convention Center

Show Management, Inc.

800-624-3248

Fax: 805-995-2504

Email: info@iecsc.com

Web: www.iecsc.com