Acupuncture: East meets West; will Medicare pay?
January 1, 1998 less than 1 minute read
Acupuncture: East meets West; will Medicare pay?
The Western medical establishment has long shunned traditional Eastern medical techniques such as acupuncture. And federal and state health insurance programs such as Medicare and Medicaid have never been willing to pay for such treatment. But that may change.
Unable to ignore the increasing popularity of acupuncture among Americans as many as 12 million patient visits were made for acupuncture treatments in 1993 a prestigious panel of scientists and academics has concluded that there is clear evidence that the treatment is effective for treating postoperative and chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, nausea of pregnancy, and postoperative dental pain.
Could Medicare reimbursement be far behind? Not if the consensus panel of medical experts convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has its way. "The panel encouraged broader access to acupuncture treatment by urging insurance companies, Federal and state health insurance programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, and other third party payers to expand their coverage to include acupuncture treatments," the NIH said in a statement.
Acupuncture has been in use for at least 2,500 years. Based on the theory that there are patterns of energy flow in the human body called Qi (pronounced chee), acupuncture uses thin, solid needles to pierce the skin to promote optimal energy flow and health.
While there are no plans yet for Medicare to reimburse for acupuncture, the panel’s urging insurance coverage of the treatments along with recommendations to continue research, could be a first step along that road. t
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