Michigan

Michigan massage licenses must be renewed every 3 years, by October 31. Your license expiration date is stated on your license.  Also, you should receive a postcard from the state approximately 3 months before your expiration date reminding you to renew and providing the website which you must go to in order to renew online, which is http://www.michigan.gov/elicense (click on “Massage Therapy”). The renewal fee is $225. 

If you have already obtained your Michigan massage therapy license, you can disregard this reminder.

To: Michigan ABMP members

From: Jean Robinson, government relations director

RE: March 5, 2012 public hearing regarding the proposed administrative rules to implement massage therapy licensing.

Applications for licensing are NOT available yet. They probably won’t be available until the fall at the earliest. There is no action for you to take at this time. This is simply an update.

A public hearing will be held to receive comments on the proposed rules that will implement the Massage Therapy Licensing Act which was signed into law on January 9, 2009. The law requires the licensure of massage therapists and the proposed rules will establish the requirements for this licensure of massage therapists.

In January 2009, HB 5651 was signed into law by Governor Granholm. The law provided for the state licensing of massage therapists and authorized the creation of a state regulatory board to implement the process. Governor Granholm appointed members to serve on the Board of Massage Therapy in late June 2009 and the board has met regularly since December 2009 to discuss and develop regulations to implement the law.

Senate bill 786, sponsored by Senator Sanborn, was approved by Governor Granholm on January 4, 2010. The law amends how proprietary schools are licensed and regulated in Michigan as previously defined by law. ABMP became involved with this effort a few years ago when we were contacted by several proprietary schools concerned that the Proprietary School Unit (the division authorized to enforce the Proprietary School Act) were enforcing a provision in the law that did not allow massage therapy schools to sell goods or services provided by its students.

Governor Granholm has appointed members to the Michigan Board of Massage Therapy. The board, named below, is charged with the responsibility of writing the rules and regulations to implement the new law. ABMP will keep members informed of the progress the board makes and when applications for licensure become available.

This notice is intended to give those interested in applying for a board appointment a better idea of the task at hand, time commitment, and reimbursement. Of the eleven members appointed to the board, seven will be massage therapists and four will be public members.  The board will receive guidance from professionals within the Department of Community Health (DCH) to write rules and regulations to implement the new law. DCH provides a general framework and the board fills in the details.

Here are a few examples of what the board will discuss and create policies on:

Today, House Bill 5651, providing for the state licensing of massage therapists, was signed into law by Governor Granholm. While the law is effective immediately, it will take some time to implement. There is no action for you to take at this time. It will likely take at least 6-12 months before applications become available, ABMP will continue to keep members informed.

The law will benefit the massage therapy community in three primary ways:

House Bill 5651, sponsored by Representative Paul Condino, passed the Senate Economic Development and Regulatory Reform Committee unanimously on Wednesday, September 24th. The bill would require massage therapists to obtain a state license to practice and create a board of massage therapy to implement the process. If passed, a state license would pre-empt local regulations; only one license would be needed.