Do We Need The State To License Music Therapy?

  There's an axiom in politics:
​
"Whatever you subsidize will magically grow,
and justify the existence thereof".

  Even if there was no need for the subsidy to begin with, there will soon be a new lobby group to represent those who are making a career out of the legislation that the state carves out for them.

 The autism advocacy lobby is pushing for several government interventions, unfunded mandates, and insurance requirements.  The Music Therapy trade groups are pushing for insurance companies to pay for music therapy treatment, administered by a professional Music Therapist.

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  How did Oklahoma ever manage to survive without the state licensing professionals to administer music as therapy?

• Have you ever turned to music as a means to impact your own mental or emotional health?
• Has your parent ever sang to you when you were troubled or needed to calm down and rest?
• Have you ever cranked up some rock'n tunes to get 'pumped up'? 
• Have you gotten 'in the mood for lov'n with something romantic on the stereo?

Here's what one Music Therapy trade group is telling their membership...

 "The growing need for music therapy services for adults with IDD (intellectual and developmental disabilities), including ASD (autism spectrum disorder), calls for more research, forums, and publications in our field."

​  Did you have a license to do that? How do you know you did it correctly? Do you have any confidence left that you can face life without the professional skills of the "Music Therapist" in your life?

  Parents used to teach their kids how to read & write without a professional teacher doing it for them. Ben Franklin became a world-famous scientist with a simple home education and a love for learning. But every state eventually started licensing teachers and soon we were all told that only a professional can do it correctly. And now, education is the single biggest expense in our state budget. What's worse is, most every other state spends even more than Oklahoma! When funding sources are made available, there are magically a whole bunch of new practitioners ready to take that money, thank you! Just look at all the new "universities" popping up at storefront locations around the landscape. Why? Because there are billions of dollars in federal grants, loan guarantees, and other funding sources.

   With the new ObamaCare mandates, there are vast sums of money going to mental health providers. While it's absolutely valid and practical to provide coverage for serious mental illness, especially that which could endanger the general public. Prevention is vastly cheaper than punishment for psychotic rampages.
   But did we really intend to have mandated universal healthcare pay for comforting teen girls whose boyfriend broke up with them?  And does a Music therapist really need to be licensed by the state to provide this 'service'? And should everyone else's taxes and insurance premiums rise so that everyone can get their musical therapy paid for by someone else?

Who voted for this new Music Therapy government agency & oversight board?

38 Senate Supporters

Anderson      Fields        Matthews      Smalley
Barrington     Floyd         Mazzei         Sparks
Bass            Ford           Newberry      Standridge
Bice             Fry             Paddack       Stanislawski
Bingman      Griffin          Pittman        Thompson
Boggs          Jech           Quinn           Treat
Brooks         Jolley         Schulz           Wyrick
Crain            Justice       Sharp            Yen 
David           Loveless     Shaw            Dossett  
Marlatt         Shortey          
 

54 House Supporters

Banz               Enns             Loring            Rogers            Biggs              Faught
Martin             Rousselot       Billy              Fourkiller         McDaniel, J.    Russ  
Caldwell          Goodwin         Munson         Sanders          Cannaday        Griffith
Murdock          Scott             Casey            Hardin             Nelson            Sears  
Cockroft           Henke           Nollan            Tadlock           Condit             Johnson
Ortega             Thomsen       Coody, A.       Jordan            Osborn           Virgin
Coody, J.          Joyner          Ownbey          Watson          Cooksey           Kannady
Perryman          Williams        Cox               Kern               Peterson          Wright
Denney             Kouplen         Pfeiffer          Dunnington      Lepak              Pruett