Association of Remedial Masseurs

Membership Renewal Forms and Membership Fees are now overdue.

While this is of small consequence to the Office, it has a monumental impact on you and your clientele. Health Funds require you to be a current financial member of an Association.

If your fees are unpaid you do not fulfill the requirements of a provider for the Health Funds. This means your name will not appear on the Member Provider Report sent regularly to the Health Funds. Your clients' claims will be rejected, and never accepted for the time you were unfinancial.

The Office NEEDS your renewal form to function effectively, as much as it needs your Fees. Your up-to-date details on your form are the information that goes into the data base, and then into the reports it generates for the Health Funds.

Just paying your fees will not fulfill your responsibilities, or help the Head Office fulfill its duties. It's no longer a casual arrangement. Details of your status as a member have to be transmitted to the Health Funds in the reports. Some funds will be requiring this every fortnight.

Health Funds are obliged to follow the law the same as we are. It's mandatory to have current Membership, current Insurance, current First Aid, and up to date CPE.

Your CPE log and related certified documents were also due on the 31st March. This will also affect your inclusion on the Health Fund provider reports. Remember to always keep your original documents in your own files and send only certified copies to our Head Office.

Certified documents are required by the Health Funds. During a recent Audit of our Members files by a Health Fund, this requirement was checked and recorded.

Remember to always keep your First Aid Certificate and Professional Indemnity Insurance current. This also impacts on your eligibility for Health Fund rebates.

ARM Head Office has been audited by a number of Health Funds and Members files have been checked to see if all their documents are in order. The most recent audit was done by Medibank Private and I'm pleased to say we met all the criteria required from an Association. We hope to have our Accredited Members recognised as providers, not just our Level 2 Accredited Members, in the very near future.

HCF has also accepted our Association and its policies and practices. During my discussion with HCF, I argued for the recognition of Members with older diplomas, who have been successfully working in the industry for over a decade.

There is much skill and wisdom that only time and effort can acquire. Both representatives from HCF and Medibank Private have agreed in principal and indicated a change in policy later in the year. I will be following it through to ensure I have done everything possible for this to happen.

ATMS will be conducting a seminar on Regulation for our Professional Industry. This will be held at the ANZ Stadium on the 13th and 14th June 2009. We need to keep focused on the developments within our Industry and its recommend you attend and participate in this seminar.

I want to personally acknowledge all the hard work and dedication Ireen Allanson puts into our Association. She gives freely and generously of her time and effort, and does all that is necessary to keep our Head Office functional. She is a wonderful example to us all. I respect her good-natured kindness and I am very grateful for her.

Gai Herne

National President