Washington State Massage Therapy Association - HB1655--the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) Bill

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In the 2023 legislative session, the Washington State Chiropractor’s Association (WSCA) helped to initiate and heavily pursued HB1655, the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) bill, which would require health insurers to include a COLA increase in provider fee schedules for those not attached to hospitals or hospital affiliates.
When WSCA put out the call to action to its membership to get involved, WSMTA picked up on the information and passed it forward to massage therapists in our state, but it was too late in the process to provide any substantial support.
Although the bill was well-received; there just was not enough grassroots support for it to move out of committee.
In the 2024 legislative session, WSCA will be seeking a companion bill in the Senate to increase the chances of success for COLA as well as pursuing it again in the House.
Currently, massage therapists are in a different place than chiropractors. Recently, health insurance companies have made substantial improvements to reimbursement rates for massage therapy services. However, chiropractors have not had any substantial change for about 20 years.
Over the next several months we will keep massage therapists updated about COLA as well as to provide recommendations on what massage therapists can do to promote COLA with legislators.
For information about the 2023 COLA bill, just click on this link: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1655&Year=2023

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Advocate for Massage Therapy as a Recognized & Respected Healthcare Profession

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