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Obamacare, ME and random thoughts

Just wondering, has the Affordable Care Act affected your massage business in any way? I've noticed that some of the hospitals here are hiring MT's now, however Im not sure that is in any way connected to Obamacare.

Do you think ME will have to pay their therapists more if hospitals start hiring MT's?

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on June 26, 2014 at 4:52am

Well thats an interesting or good question? For me I don't think it matters.. Working in a spa.. A high percentage of the clientel are coming in on their birthday, or mothers day, or its an Aniversery or a Christmass present, or they are getting married, or they are a tourist thats tired from hunting and hicking, or a local that wants to enjoy a monthly massage... Or someone thats hurting and has heard about me. And I can be fully booked and busy with only four clients.. 80 minute massages each. I live in a population of about 230,000 give or take.. So I think for me.. Obama care or not, It might matter a little? If they hire people in hospitals or Massage Envey. I don't think there will be that much difference in my income?

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on June 26, 2014 at 5:13am

Uhm, Ive been in one location for 20 years. So maybe someone out of school or a new therapist to the comunity.. Maybe it makes a difference?

Gordon J. Wallis said:

Well thats an interesting or good question? For me I don't think it matters.. Working in a spa.. A high percentage of the clientel are coming in on their birthday, or mothers day, or its an Aniversery or a Christmass present, or they are getting married, or they are a tourist thats tired from hunting and hicking, or a local that wants to enjoy a monthly massage... Or someone thats hurting and has heard about me. And I can be fully booked and busy with only four clients.. 80 minute massages each. I live in a population of about 230,000 give or take.. So I think for me.. Obama care or not, It might matter a little? If they hire people in hospitals or Massage Envey. I don't think there will be that much difference in my income?

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Permalink Reply by Julie Onofrio on July 12, 2014 at 1:03pm

The ACA probably hasn't done much to affect anyone really in the massage profession. ME will probably stay paying their therapists the same although I did hear in the spring that they were thinking of pay raises to keep people happier. In general, insurance will probably pay less than the going cash rate for a massage so it may bring us down more in a way, but people will have more regular clients too. It is a mixed blessing.

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Permalink Reply by Neal Lyons on July 27, 2014 at 3:48pm

if anything what i can think of is that the ACA forces physicians to focus primarily first on general care. others, who are more specializes are trying to leverage help as much as they can because they can no longer bill the crazy rates they used to for "generic" care. thus nurse practitioners, physician assistants and LMTs are starting to being pulled into physician work more and more. you will see this trend increase more so over time especially as massage gains more acceptance in the medical community.