IMA Goes Out of Business, Members Lose Liability Insurance Coverage

by LAS

Scandal closes insurer for Massage Therapists

Massage Magazine and Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) sent out a mass email today (August 26, 2010) that International Massage Association (IMA) is now defunct. This affects thousands of massage therapists who bought insurance through IMA, a specialty insurer who carried liability insurance plans tailored to the risks that massage therapists face.

According to Massage Magazine, Will Green, owner of the the now-defunct IMA, "sent an e-mail to IMA members on July 21, 2010 informing them that IMA's broker and insurance companies terminated their contract with IMA in April 2010 because IMA failed to pay at least $600,000 of premiums it had collected from its members."

Mr. Green declared in that email that he would sell his farm and commercial properties to satisfy the obligation to cover the unpaid premiums. While Mr. Green has not commented publicly on just what transpired, it appears that his insurance broker quit and Mr. Green is in a dispute with him.

Mr. Green had tried to sell the insurance business earlier this year due to the financial straits it was in. Three different buyers backed out.

The scandal has now culminated in the closing of IMA, as it is now out of business.

Another massage magazine, Massage Today, ran an article this week titled "What Became of IMA?" This prompted a response from Mr. Green in the form of an email to former IMA members.

ABMP has posted a notice on the scandal on its website. Their statement reads in part, "Mr. Green reached out to ABMP in March, when he knew his organization was in trouble. We paid attention because we did not want to see 15,000 massage therapists be left out in the cold. But, after investigation, we determined we were not prepared to potentially put at risk the health of our own organization and our 72,000 members, considering the problems surrounding the IMA Group."

Whether massage therapists who hold liability policies with IMA will suffer from exposure to loss (lawsuits, or other claims against them) is an unanswered question.

The Massage magazine email reads in its entirety: Ponte Vedra Beach, FL (Aug. 25, 2010) MASSAGE Magazine recently learned that the IMA has gone out of business and is no longer renewing insurance coverage for its members.

IMA President Will Green sent an e-mail to IMA members on July 21, 2010 informing them that IMA's broker and insurance companies terminated their contract with IMA in April 2010 because IMA failed to pay at least $600,000 of premiums it had collected from its members.

In that e-mail, Green wrote that he fell into a depression upon learning that illegal actions had been committed in relation to his company. "I did not pursue a legal remedy," he wrote. "I went into a depression without even realizing it I am not faultless. I began to sabotage the business through hurt and anger last year I owe the insurance broker about $600,000 and am selling my farm and commercial building to pay that debt."

Green is now encouraging his former customers to purchase insurance with a new company he claims to be affiliated with, the National Association of Massage Therapists. Green's entire e-mail is posted on: www.massagemag.com/MMIPresponse.

In efforts to provide full disclosure, The Doyle Group, publishers of MASSAGE Magazine and Chiropractic Economics, also offers insurance to massage professionals, through MASSAGE Magazine Insurance Plus (MMIP) (www.massagemagins.com). A comparison of all major liability insurance programs for massage therapists, including AMTA and ABMP, is located at www.massagemag.com/insurancecomparison.

SOURCES:
ABMP Responds to Statements Made by IMA Owner Will Green on Closure of IMA Group, ABMP.com, August 26, 2010, www.abmp.com/news/abmp-responds-to-statements-made-by-ima-owner-will-green-on-closure-of-ima-group/

Associations Respond to IMA Owner, Christie Bondurant, MassageToday.com, August 2010, www.massagetoday.com/print_friendly.php?pr_file_name=http%3A%2F2Fwww.massagetoday.com%2Fmpacms%2Fmt%2Farticle.php%3Fid%3D14267%26no_paginate%3Dtrue

MMIP Response to Statements Made By IMA Owner Will Green, MassageMag.com, July 27, 2010, www.massagemag.com/MMIPresponse

What Became of IMA?, Ramon G. McLeod, MassageToday.com, August 2010, http://massagetoday.com/mpacms/mt/article.php?id=14262

Is Your Job Hurting You? Are You Losing Your Grip?

by Laura Sos-now-ski

A decent Massage Therapist can do wonders for your aching arms and hands. Incipient cases of tendinitis or Carpal Tunnel Syndrome can yield to the gentle touch of an MT. By gently palpating your extremities, he or she can tell which muscles are involved, and begin to soothe hypertonic (tense, hard, knotty) areas.

Be alert for symptoms like tingling or numb fingers in the morning, dropping items, not being able to squeeze a scissors, etc.

I have been working on friends and clients and it is very rewarding to know that I am making a difference. One friend felt like his arm was falling apart, and it was losing strength. Just a few minutes of palpating and kneading, and he felt good as new. Another woman friend handles packages at a shipping service, and was surprised I found a sensitive spot up near the elbow joint.

This service is so important for not just workers but anyone who directs Employee Wellness programs at a company. For those are the people who can make a difference in the company's bottom line by cutting not only absences due to arm/hand pain, but keeping the company's premiums low for Workman's Comp and health insurance.

Please email me at lauraalthea (at) yahoo.com or at lausosnows (at) aol.com. Let me know what is on your mind and how I can help you. AND in a special offer just for my readers, anyone who gets me into a company Wellness Program as a provider will get his or her massages fr*ee.*

*for as long as I am a provider of the Chair Massage service at your company.

Research Finds TMJ Related to Hip Pain

By Laura Sos-now-ski

Massage therapists know that a client's pain is often related to distant areas of the body. A new study shows that function of the temporomandibular joint affects hip pain.

"Influence of the temporomandibular joint on range of motion of the hip joint in patients with complex regional pain syndrome" was conducted by researchers at Hanover Medical School in Hanover, Germany.

This study evaluated if patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) would have an increase in range of motion (ROM) after myofascial release and a similar ROM decrease after jaw clenching, whereas in healthy subjects these effects would be minimal or nonexistent.

Two groups were tested: patients with CRPS and a control group. Hip ROM (alpha angle) was measured at three time points as follows: baseline, after myofascial release of the tm joint and after jaw clenching for 90 seconds.

Comparison of the CRPS and control groups was made using t tests. Total score and pain reported for the last four weeks were significantly different between the two groups. This is according to information published on www.PubMed.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

"The results suggest that temporomandibular joint dysfunction plays an important role in the restriction of hip motion experienced by patients with CRPS, which indicated a connectedness between these 2 regions of the body," the researchers noted.