New Massage bill quietly proposed in MA, changing scope of practice, upping hours to 900.

SECTION 1. Section 227 of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out lines 18 through 21 and inserting in place thereof the following sentence: -

Massage therapy shall include the prescription of stretching techniques and exercises but shall specifically not include diagnoses, the prescribing of drugs or medicines, spinal or other joint manipulations or any services or procedures for which a license to practice medicine, chiropractic, occupational therapy or podiatry is required by law.

SECTION 2. Section 229 of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2008 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out subsection (a)(5) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection: -

(a)(5) he shall have successfully completed a course of study consisting of at least 900 classroom hours at an accredited massage school which shall consist of 200 hours of anatomy, physiology, and pathology, 150 hours of kinesiology and/or mycology, 50 hours in the subject of hygiene, first aid, CPR, HIV including the instruction of infection control procedures, 180 hours of general theory and applications of massage therapy, 200 hours of additional instruction including a minimum of 75 hours of ethics, law, and business practices, and 120 hours of actual hands-on practical massage therapy in a clinic or other supervised setting;

SECTION 3, Said section 229 of said chapter 112 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding after subsection (c), the following subsection:-

(d) The board shall renew existing practitioners who, within a twelve month period following the effective date of this section have done one of the following: (1) completed 150 hours of continuing education as prescribed by the board; (2) passed the nation certification board for therapeutic massage and bodywork (NCBTMB) certification examination; or (3) is able to demonstrate that the applicant has been in active continuous practice of massage therapy for at least five years immediately preceding the effective date of this section.