2021 Advocacy Year in Review

AMTA’s Commitment to Members and the Profession

As a nonprofit association, AMTA is committed to giving back to the massage therapy community. We do this by investing your membership dollars in advocacy, research, scholarships and more.

Through advocacy work, AMTA strives to enhance the reputation and acceptance of massage therapy and the crucial role of professional massage therapists in health and wellness.

What happened in 2021?

Here are just some of the initiatives AMTA accomplished on behalf of our members and the massage therapy profession in 2021:

  • AMTA provided continuous COVID-19 updates impacting massage therapists, including new and revised executive orders, reopening guidance, state vaccination and masking requirements, and changes to states’ continuing education requirements.
  • Massage therapists like you from across the country took action to send letters to elected officials requesting support of the NO PAIN Act (H.R.3259/S. 586).
    • We continue to support the NOPAIN Act by collaborating with our key partners such as Voices for Non-Opioid Choices and the U. S. Pain Foundation.
    • The bill would enhance access to integrative therapies such as massage. It would also increase the recognition of massage therapy as a billable benefit.
  • AMTA also collaborated with partner organizations to educate health care providers, insurance companies and patients on the benefits of integrative therapies including massage, raising the profile of the profession as an alternative to pain management.
  • AMTA’s Government Relations team continued to urge the CDC to include massage therapy in updated guidelines for pain management. The CDC has indicated they have heard the massage community, and are actively considering AMTA’s suggestions.
  • At the state level, we had legislative and regulatory wins to improve standards for the massage therapy profession, enhance continuing education requirements, and the legal recognition of massage therapy. Some of these wins include:
  • AMTA helping prevent the deregulation of massage therapy in Idaho and Mississippi.
  • AMTA helping stop the dissolution of the massage therapy boards and consolidation into other departments in Nevada and South Dakota.
  • AMTA also submitted a comment letter encouraging the FDA to strengthen provider education for opioids to ensure that more patients have access to the full range of treatment options – including integrative therapies such as massage to address pain-related issues.

We look forward to building upon these accomplishments and continuing to advocate for massage therapy and its important role in health and wellness in 2022. Thank you for your part in moving the massage profession forward.