When I graduated from massage therapy school in May, 2011, mine was the first class locally that had to go through the licensing process here in Montana. Before licensing, anyone could call themselves a massage therapist, place an ad in the local paper charging $75 an hour, and do the deal, it was like the wild west. Most therapists had good education and credentials, but there was no governing body to monitor complaints, track how many therapists there were, and a host of other jobs. Now with licensing in effect, it gives LMT’s credibility to work with doctors, insurance, etc., and sets a standard for what must be understood about anatomy, physiology, pathology, and ethics to deliver consistent care. However the downside that we may see soon has to do with the recent national changes to healthcare. No one is quite sure where Obamacare is going to take us, or end up. It seems that alternative therapies like massage, acupuncture, etc., are more likely to be covered by insurance, but that means those therapists would have to BILL insurance, and many of us avoid that like the plague due to the endless red tape and the possibility of not getting paid in a timely fashion, or at all. The big picture is, should massage therapy basically be annexed by governmental health care, and all of us therapists being under that umbrella and having to report to someone rather be autonomous, is not a fun prospect for many LMT’s. We like to call our own shots, give our own treatments, make our own suggestions towards a clients health without having to deal with the medical lawsuits that are partially to blame for the healthcare crisis anyway. You’re much less likely to be sued if you are a smalltime operator than if you work at a hospital. Do we want the government in our business? NO! No one does. We realize we must be accountable for our actions, but not to a government that now tells us we HAVE to buy health insurance. If for me to continue to work as a massage therapist I’d have to go to work for a hospital, or other corporate / government controlled entity, I’ll go back to being a debt collector!
