Acupuncture: What if Everyone Had Access to It?

by Inger Giffin, L.Ac., Dipl. Ac.

What if Acupuncture was included in every insurance plan as part of “Essential Health Benefits”?

From the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine’s (AAAOM) website:

In 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, a health insurance reform law intended to ensure access to quality and affordable health insurance for all Americans.

Starting in 2014, most health plans will be required to offer a comprehensive package of items and services to patients, known as “essential health benefits” (EHB). Under the new law, EHB must cover certain specific services including emergency services, maternity and newborn care, prescription drugs as well as preventive and wellness services, among others.

The AAAOM strongly supports designating acupuncture as an EHB!  Do you as well?

The deadline to submit your comments is right around the corner, on Jan. 31.  You can email your thoughts to EssentialHealthBenefits@cms.hhs.gov.  Please specifically state in the email that you want acupuncture included as an Essential Health Benefit.  If you have experienced the benefits of acupuncture yourself, or know someone who has, please explicitly state these benefits in the email as well.

Thanks for taking the time to ensure that acupuncture is included in the essential health benefits!

To learn more, read the position statement of AAAOM.

 

 

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