NQA POSITION ON QIGONG LEGISLATION

The National Qigong Association seeks to nurture all forms of Qigong and support the freedom for its members to to train, teach and work clinically, with proper training. To this end, the Board of Directors has adopted a legislative position to support responsible Qigong practitioners, teachers and clinicians against overreaching legislation.

READ NQA POSITION PAPER

Call to Action!

The NQA Legislation Committee is currently tracking 22 bills around the country. 17 of the bills will impact everyone who teaches and practices Qigong on a Recreational/Preventive, Martial, Clinical/Medical and Religious level.

• Are you concerned about your right to teach Qigong and not have to be licensed? 
• Are you concerned you won’t be able to practice Clinical/Medical Qigong unless you’re licensed?
• Are you appalled at the fact that you won’t be able to advertise your services as Qigong?
• Are you aware that the licensing boards will not have any representation whatsoever for Qigong and other Holistic modalities?
• In order for you to practice Qigong (which is your right) in the park, YMCA, YWCA and other venues, you will have to be licensed!

This may sound farfetched to some of you, but in reality, it is exactly what is going on right now in Massachusetts under Senate Bill S168 and is not, by any means, just in MA. All bills in question, require licensing for Holistic and Energy based modalities. 

States that offer protection to Alternative/Complementary medicine through general laws are now getting bills proposing the elimination of said protection. No one is safe, even in those states!  

The total loss of self-governance and representation is on the brink of happening to Qigong. You will be required to have a massage therapist, bodywork or acupuncture license depending on the state.    

Please join us in our fight to keep Qigong our own and to self-govern.  We are looking for individuals to help at the state level. We need boots on the ground to contact others in like-minded organizations, speak to legislators and serve as liaisons.

Please contact our Legislation Committee:

Legislation Committee Contact Form

Legislative Update for the Remainder of 2020

As many of you know, a Coalition of Holistic Practitioners in Massachusetts along with the NQA and the AOBTA, worked together to block passage of MA S168, and we were successful in doing just that. The bill was sent “To Study” by the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure so, as of this legislative session, this bill is dead. Nevertheless, we will continue to monitor any legislative activity in MA. 

Many thanks to all who worked hard contacting legislators, the Attorney General’s office and of course, worked behind the scenes.

Staying in Massachusetts, we have bill in the pipeline, S2634 “An Act Providing for Consumer Access to and the Right to Practice Complementary and Alternative Health Care Services”. 

This bill is very similar to other “Health Freedom Acts currently being proposed around the nation. The NQA is in favor of these bills for the most part, as they allow Clinical Qigong Practitioners to practice their profession, govern themselves as long as, the practitioner abide by the guidelines within the bill designed to protect both, the consumer and the practitioner.

On the national level, the bills we have in the pipeline today do not attempt to take over Qigong but rather, put us in line with the Complementary and/or Alternative Medicine practices. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) classifies Qigong as Complementary Integrative Medicine. 

In regards to the new legislative session beginning January 2021, it is difficult to say just what will happen regarding Qigong. At this point (June 29, 2020), all state governments are trying to figure out what to do in order to provide and/or pay for basic services in 2021 and all bills currently in the pipeline (2019-2020), are not being deal with. The backlog of bills nationwide will be such, that we believe, it will be awhile before they’re heard by committees. 

In closing, we would like to invite NQA members to join us as state or regional representatives. We will ask only that you keep an eye on legislation within your assigned area. For those who join us, we will provide the necessary training.  Can you spare 2-3 hours a month to protect your profession? 

Please review the list of current bills we’re monitoring.

NQA Leadership Protecting your Right to Practice Qigong Safely. This time, in Massachusetts! 

Massachusetts S168 bill had a public hearing on 28 October, 2019. No vote was taken and a closed hearing was scheduled for 8 February, 2020. Those attending on behalf of the NQA were Laura Kandziolka (NQA Vice President) and Tom Bowman (Legislation Chair).

UPDATE FEBRUARY 13, 2020:  MA S168 was sent to study by the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure and is dead for this legislative session. On behalf of the NQA, we want to thank everyone for their efforts the past 6 months, the NQA's crew consisted of Laura Kandziolka (VP), Dr. Bernard Shannon (BOD Chair) and the Legislation Committee members.

L to R: Tom Bowman (NQA), Dr. Effie Chow, MA Rep./Sifu Donald Wong, Laura Kandziolka (NQA) and CJ Rhoades (IMTQA)

States with bills currently under consideration are: