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Does anyone know about this House Bill 40 in the state of Texas FOR CAM including Reiki and Reflexology?

Have you heard of this House Bill and will you be attending to show your support? What Complementary and Alternative Medicine modality do you do? Reiki People this Bill being introduced in Austin will prevent Regulation of Reiki, Reflexology and other Alternative Therapies. Texas Health Freedom Coalition Citizen Empowerment Day November 15, 2008 Legislative Conference Center State Capitol, Room E2.002 Please Register Now for this Meeting to show your support to The House. Send your registration information to Claudia Smith at cshcchr@yahoo.com or call 1-800-572-2905 to register. Your prompt response is urgently needed. Gwen Johnson ------------------------------from our Chair Person---------------------- Yes, this is our bill. HB 40 Texas Health Freedom I respectfully give you an interpretation of this bill. It is unequivocally NOT a step toward licensure. It was co-drafted by Diane Miller, executive director of the National Health Freedom Coalition (NHFC) (www.nationalhealthfreedom.org), Richard Jaffe, an esteemed Texas attorney with over 20 years' experience defending natural and alternative health practitioners (www.richardjaffe.com) and Patrick Jackson, a naturopath and attorney who is editor of Enjoy Whole Health magazine. I invite anyone who has concerns about this bill, to visit the NHFC web site, and examine the health freedom bills that have been enacted in other states. In contrast to these bills, and if anything, (thanks to our coordination wih Kathi Seay, Frank Corte's chief of staff) this bill will provide increased protection for ALL natural and alternative health practitioners, including Reiki practitioners. In order to provide that protection we have to require a standardized framework of information to allow consumers to exercise informed consent. That is a key purpose of the bill, one which the legislators will demand as a minimum. Additionally, please carefully read the following paragraph from the bill: Sec. 703.003. APPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAW. Notwithstanding any other law, a person who provides complementary and alternative health care services in compliance with Sections 703.051 and 703.052 is not practicing medicine under Subtitle B and does not violate Subtitle B or another law of this state that requires a person to obtain an occupational license, registration, or certificate (my underlining for emphasis) In other words, this bill EXEMPTS all natural and alternative practitioners from governance by any existing health care licensing law (e.g., massage therapy). While we all would enjoy it greatly if such a bill were written in plain language to say, for example,"the state has no jurisdiction over us," the reality is that a bill like this has to be couched in language that allows it interface with the very laws it is trying to exempt us from. Thus, the possibility of misinterpretation. In the long run, this bill will actually HELP all practitioners, because it will allow them to increase their visibility without fear of prosecution or harassment by the state, and thus allow them to reach a broader cross section of the population with their services. I hope this allays your concerns. Please contact me if you have further questions. Hope to see you on Saturday. Peter

Public Comments

1. Thanks for sharing this with the community! I think it's great that we are being allowed to seek alternative care...there are many providers who have been harrassed for practicing reiki and other modalities. If I lived in Texas still (used to live in San Antonio), I'd definitely be there!
2. Don't you think the Citizens of Texas deserve to be protected from the unscrupulous? Why should you have any less regulation than other professionals? Plus why shouldn't you have to fork over licensing money like everyone else? Pick your battles better if you want to build any coalitions!