As you may recall, the bill is designed to increase utilization of non-opioid pain management systems. And, of interest to the massage therapy community, the bill also requires a report to Congress on limitations, gaps and barriers to access, or deficits in Medicare coverage for services supported by the HHS Pain Management Task Force, which includes massage therapy.

If the bill is not approved in the ‘lame duck’ session of Congress, i.e., the time when Congress returns to DC after the mid-term elections and runs until Congress adjourns in mid-December, the bill effectively ‘dies’ and must be reintroduced next year, effectively starting the process all over again.

We encourage the massage therapy community to reach out to your Senators and House Members if they have not already cosponsored the bill, asking them to do so. If your Members in the Senate and House have already lent their support, please thank them, and ask them to use their influence to pass this commonsense bill before Congress adjourns.