Texas House Bill 2644
Background
In the 2007 Texas Legislature, attempts were made to require a massage therapy license for therapeutic professionals who were appropriately trained in their respective modalities, but not specifically regulated under a state health care licensing board such as massage therapy, chiropractic, acupuncture, nursing, etc.Due to issues and concerns raised in the legislative committee hearings, the original proposed bills were stopped in committee and did not pass. However, a last-minute amendment was added to another massage therapy bill, HB 2644.
As written, HB 2644 states that a person may not, for compensation, perform, or offer to perform, a service with a purported health benefit that involves physical contact with a client unless the person holds a massage therapy license or is licensed under another law to perform the service.
An additional subsection to the massage therapy statute states that the Texas Department of State Health Services may issue a license, or licenses, separate from the massage therapy license which would address other modalities such as energy healing therapy.
What This Means Now
On July 19, 2007, the following information was provided by the DSHS Massage Therapy Licensing Program staff member who is managing the provisions of HB 2644:The DSHS Massage Therapy Licensing Program will not be creating any new forms of licensure for specialty practices during their current budgetary period. Although the amended HB 2644 allows this, the legislature provided no funding to do so.
The effective date of HB 2644 was September 1, 2007. As of this date, all individuals who offer therapeutic services for compensation cannot legally use physical contact in their practices unless they are licensed under a professional health care licensing board such as massage therapy, nursing, chiropractic, etc.
This law does not make it illegal to practice Reiki or similar types of therapies that work with energy fields of the body; it simply means that unlicensed practitioners must work in the energy fields rather than on the physical body itself.
Much concern has been voiced about the ramifications of this bill from a wide spectrum of individuals, including legislative representatives, professional therapeutic practitioners, and holistic health care consumers. Therefore, it is possible that changes may occur at some point.
What You Can Do
If you are an energy healing professional, be aware of the law and adapt your practice as appropriate to your situation. Don't fall for rumor, innuendo, and e-mails of panic. If you have questions, go to the source by calling the Massage Therapy Licensing Program at 512-834-6615.Energy healing therapies work with energy fields of the body and do not require physical body contact. If you practice energy healing in the aura and in the energy fields off the body, you are not in violation of this law.
Vote for legislative candidates who support holistic health freedom and who will oppose legislation that only serves the turf of a few specialized interests or that restrict your access to the healthcare therapies and practitioners of your choice.
Help the Texas Health Freedom Coalition in passage of a Texas Health Freedom Act in the Texas Legislature.