Is Insurance Right For Acupuncture?

I recently worked a booth for the Acupuncture Association of Colorado at the 9 Health Fairs. I adore educating the public and answering questions. I love explaining why my medicine works so effectively and how it works. Many questions were around making Acupuncture more affordable and wondering if insurance covers it.

So some insurance plans are starting to cover Acupuncture. Any health care plan that has a health savings account or a flexible spending account can be used to pay for acupuncture. I highly recommend using these accounts right now as this is pre-tax money that you can use to pay for your care as well as copays and other qualified health expenses. Most of the time they give you a credit card and you fax or mail them the receipts. Simple, easy and a great tax benefit.

One problem with insurance is that medicare does not cover acupuncture restricting its access to the elderly without means to pay for this.

Another problem is that Licensed Acupuncturists do not have insurance parity in Colorado. (This insurance parity has been granted by the health care reform act, but won't go into effect until 2014. The Acupuncture Association of Colorado is looking for a legislator to sponsor a bill for insurance parity in Colorado. If you want to support their efforts you can go to www.acucol.com and make a donation.)

Insurance parity means that the insurance plan can decide to pay an MD who does Acupuncture, but not a Licensed Acupuncturist for treatments. Other professions have started to use Acupuncture, such as Chiropractors, M.D.'s and Physical Therapists. These other professions are only required to do a short course of about 100 hours of training compared to a typical 3,000 hours of training. They are already plugged into the insurance billing system which is a strong advantage. I know a practitioner who checked and double checked if her patients insurance covered her treatments only to have them deny the claims because it had to be an MD.

Understand that although my profession is titled and licensed with the name Licensed Acupuncturist, we are actually trained in a whole system of medicine, of which Acupuncture is one tool. This system of medicine looks at the body very differently than Western Medicine, seeing all of your signs and symptoms and treating a pattern of disease. It is an effective tool for preventative care, often nipping problems in the bud, before they become bad diseases. We often spend at least an hour going through people's health histories and often around half an hour getting clear on what is going on with the patient each time they come in. We are also trained in diet and lifestyle counseling.

So is insurance a good fit for Acupuncture? When one of the main strengths of our medicine is the time and singular attention we give to each client, will insurance take us in a direction of seeing more patients with less attention to each individual? I would argue that it is a possibility. However, the burden is on each practitioner to reject anything that interferes with practicing good medicine for their patients. Insurance will make this medicine affordable and integrated into our health care system. So overall, I guess it will be a good thing. Healing people is after all my job and the more people that can afford my services the better. However, I have to say that I am NOT looking forward to the extra paperwork!

The Lord of the Rings, Character Building, and How Stress Impacts Your Health

Lately I’ve been re-reading The Lord of the Rings. I admire Frodo’s determination to face his task, Aragorn’s forbearance of Arwen’s love while he protects those who do not have the strength to deal with evil things, and the list goes on and on. The book is full of noble and evil characters. And the theme of hoping for a cure, even for those who have caused a lot of suffering, such as Golem and Saruman, is one that I agree with.

Life seems to be full of more challenges for many and it doesn’t always bring out the best in us. The stress of the economy has taken its toll and in unexpected ways. Those who do have jobs are often overworked as companies try to squeeze a little more out of them. People stay in jobs that they are very unhappy with, worrying that there may not be another job for them. And all of us know someone who isn’t working and worry for them, and for ourselves.

Stress impacts our health, our immune systems, and our family lives. As we get sick more frequently, or suddenly find our body giving out in unexpected ways, such as our back suddenly going out, or a stiff neck, or clenching at night that leads to major dental work – at some point we must all acknowledge that stress is impacting us and it is costing us plenty. Being stressed leads to problems in your family and those problems increase the stress.

To stop this cycle, be brave, be noble, be just, be fair, be wise. Be inspired by the characters you admire. Be proactive in taking care of your health by doing yoga, or stretching or walking. Be kind to your family. If you are stressed or upset, take a walk, do some belly breathing, journal, or talk to a friend. Try to preserve a calm and peaceful home environment, rather than spreading the misery.

Sometimes the extra support around your health seems like a luxury. Is it? I would argue that it saves marriages, prevents health issues, and gives you the much needed encouragement to find solutions. We are all really good at paying for things to soothe us that actually harm our health. It’s time to take responsibility for where we are in life and to start choosing to support our health, cultivate our strength and our virtues, and in spite of adversity to become a character worthy of admiration.

Tina Laue, L.Ac., Dipl OM (NCCAOM) helps people to overcome adversity and feel their best. Her holistic approach is able to help resolve physical, emotional, mental or spiritual challenges. Call 303-881-1971 to get her on your support team today!!