Now Is Your Chance To Help Keep Holistic Healthcare Available In Massachusetts

    by | Jul 9, 2025 | Learn | 0 comments

    A hearing has been scheduled on great bill that has been filed several sessions in a row now to  protect  unlicensed complementary and alternative health care practitioners in Massachusetts with a safe harbor exemption law.

    It would be amazing if we could get it over the finish line this session. It has been voted out of the Public Health Committee favorably in the past, which is the first huge hurdle!  A public hearing has been scheduled for July 14, 2025, at the State House on Beacon Hill, so the public can provide testimony on the merits of this bill. The more voices legislators hear from, the more likely action will follow.

    We are encouraging both practitioners and consumers of complementary and alternative health care to testify, either in person, virtually, or in writing. It can be as simple as emailing a paragraph (see sample below). Please consider testifying and sharing this information widely!

    There Are Three Ways To Testify

    • In Person July 14, register by Friday, July 11, 2pm: Register to Testify

    • Virtual July 14, register by Friday, July 11, 2pm:  Register to Testify

    • Email Testimony, as soon as possible: JointCommittee.PublicHealth@malegislature.gov. Please include “Public Health Committee Testimony, Bill “H2504/S.1471” in the subject line of the email. Include your name, address, phone number, and organization, if any, at the end of the email.

    Safe Harbor Practitioner Exemption Laws create an exemption for complementary and alternative practitioners such as herbalists, homeopaths, traditional naturopaths, Ayurveda practitioners, energy healers, wellness consultants, and many others who provide the care we need, so that they can practice their healing art legally, without fear of violating the medical practices act in their state, provided that they follow a set of common sense safe harbor parameters. Eleven states now have some form of Safe Harbor Practitioner Exemption Law: Minnesota, Rhode Island, California, Louisiana, Idaho, Oklahoma, Arizona (for homeopaths), New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Maine.

    Learn more about Safe Harbor bills.

    Hearing Details

    July 14 — Protect Complementary & Alternative Health Care in Massachusetts
    10:00 AM – 1:00 PM Hearing Room A1 & Virtual

    S.1481 / H.2504: An Act providing for consumer access to and the right to practice complementary and alternative health care services

    Who Should Testify? 

    Anyone who:

    Uses or provides complementary or alternative health care
    Supports the right of consumers to choose services outside conventional medicine
    Believes in freedom to access natural or holistic practitioners—even if unlicensed

    Deadline to pre-register (virtual or in-person): Friday, July 11 at 2:00 PM. You can register in person day of. 

     

    Click Here to Register To Testify

    Click Here for Hearing Details

     

    Example Template To Help Prepare Your Testimony
    (Month) (Day) (Year)
    The Joint Committee on Public Health
    The State House
    24 Beacon Street
    Boston, MA 02133
    RE:  Testimony in Support of S.1481  and H.2504 An Act Providing for Consumer Access and the Right to Practice Complementary and Alternative Health Care Services 
    Dear Chairs and Members of the Committee:
    My name is (your first and last name) (or I am writing on behalf of a business or organization) and I am a (type of practitioner, teacher or consumer) who resides in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (Do not add where you reside if you do not live or work in MA. Please note, that anyone in the US can join in writing a letter of support).
    State why you support protecting unlicensed alternative and complementary health practitioners. Include a personal story, perhaps how you or someone you know benefited from this care. Tell the Committee why the issue is important to you and how it will affect you, your family, and your community (and/or organization or business).
    PERSONALIZED EXAMPLE: I want to voice my strong support for S.1481  and H.2504, as it will protect existing holistic practitioners in the state and encourage new ones to set up practices. As healthcare and insurance costs spiral out of control, more and more people are taking charge of their health by using alternative health practitioners for symptom relief and are seeing the benefits of it. I have personally benefited from several different energy medicine practitioners over the past 20 years to address arthritis, plantar fasciitis, hot flashes, and more, and am ever grateful for the wide and abundant variety of practitioners I have access to. My sister in Kentucky can’t even find one practitioner within 30 miles! As stress in our lives increases and disease rates soar, easy access to holistic health practitioners keeping residents healthy is something every state should want to encourage by offering Safe Harbor protection to practitioners.
    Please vote yes on S.1481  and H.2504. Thank you for your time and consideration of this issue.
    Sincerely,

     

    Julie Booras is a Massachusetts mom and entrepreneur turned health freedom advocate who brings her creative and strategic skills to National Health Freedom Action. She co-founded Health Rights MA and the national RightToRefuse.org campaign supporting grassroots efforts to pass laws that protect bodily autonomy and informed consent. Reach out to Julie with your questions about testimony at jbooras@me.com or text 617-512-2772.

     

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