Salaries

I stopped practicing about 5 years ago, but have decided to get back into it. I've been checking around to get the feel for what the market/demand for massage therapy is, and I've noticed that not very many locations are paying the 50/50 40/60 cut which was the going rate when I worked as a massage therapist. I see a lot of hourly wages...as low as $10/hr. Can anyone tell me what's going on? (Texas)

Yes, a couple of things.

One thing employers have finally starting to figure out is that if they engage in some type of fee spliting arrangment in a healthcare setting, they will be violating some aspects of the Stark Laws. If there is any chance of being auditing even remotely by a Medicare auditor, they would want no indication anywhere on there books that they engage in fee splitting, even if the massage therapist never put their hands on a Medicare patient.

As for the $10/hour wages, it's strictly a supply and demand thing. There are A LOT of unemployed people in the country, with a proportionate number of unemployed massage therapists. Supply for labor is high. Demand for massage services is low. Some facilites are nearly giving massage services away. I see some place advertising $35 for one-hour massage sessions.

In general business theory, cost of labor should run a business about 25%-33% of the billable hour. With professional services being sold to the public for as low as $35/hour, $10/hour wages should not be surprising.

--Hope this helps

--Sean S.
<a href="www.occupational-therapy-brevard-fl.com"> www.ot4nash.com </a>
<a href="www.male-massage-therapist.com"> www.male-massage-therapist.com </a>

Recently Half off Depot just ran an ad for $14.00 hour long swedish massage.