Almost uniformly, practitioners agree that a full work week in their industry consists of 20-25 hours of massage (with laundry, secretarial work, and insurance billing rounding out the rest of the week). While the pure hourly rate may seem high, there are a number of inherent limitations to the type of work that they do. By nature, bodywork cannot be mass-produced or distributed; it doesn't lend easily to virtual practice; and it's time sensitive. Unlike the instructional lifestyle practices of yoga, Pilates, or nutrition, bodywork can only be practiced on one person at a time.
Furthermore, the alt-health industry contains a number of idiosyncrasies. Massage therapists have one of the highest attrition rates in American labor (Yarmouth-based massage therapist Steven Thomas speculates the average career lasts six years). Because the work makes such physical demands, practitioners' bodies require their own share of bodywork as well. Somewhat ironically, they are almost uniformly uninsured, as most alt-health workers in private practices aren't offered coverage through an employer (or through their secondary part-time job). Working in an industry where their entire livelihood depends on their health of their bodies, their threshold for physical ailment is often much lower than that of the rest of us.
As the stimulus provided by the city of Portland's insurance plan seems to indicate, Portland's alt-health contingent might be a particularly savvy target for local investment.
Each private practice is a small business, a status that their somewhat nebulous status within the health community obscures. With the city unemployment rate approaching 9 percent this past summer (nearly twice the pre-recession rate), there is plenty of local incentive to ensure alternative health practitioners stay employed. Whether efforts come through expanded insurance coverage (unlikely), city or state legislature (possible), or volunteer-based grassroots campaigns (already happening), Portland citizens would do well to find ways to economically stimulate its growing alternative health industry. Without digging too deep in the state's checkbooks, here are some possibilities:
• To replicate a smaller version of the city of Portland's health plan, the state could initiate a plan where Maine residents are eligible for some amount, say $500 annually, to put towards massage therapy, acupuncture, or chiropractic work. This would help to stabilize a number of practices statewide, produce untold health benefits, and introduce skeptics to alternative health practices and options.
• Some employee-based insurance plans offer a flexible spending account that allows medical expenses to be paid for with pre-tax income. Extend this concept as a branch of Mainecare, enabling eligible Maine citizens to set aside a certain amount of income for use at a broader range of licensed practitioners.
• Grant licensed city practitioners a tax break for 100 hours of certified annual non-monetary exchange or volunteer practice through Portland Hour Exchange or Turn the Tide.
• Meanwhile, area practitioners might look into their own resources. Sage Hayes wonders if bodyworkers would benefit from establishing a guild that better affords them access to affordable health care, while Steven Thomas sees support for a consolidated network of alternative health practitioners to open a professional community under one roof.
Nicholas Schroeder can be reached at nschroeder[a]phx.com.
