..have soup with that sandwich
Posted on 08/02/2009 6:05:18 PM PDT by Libloather
Acupuncture and Chinese Healing in U.S. Health Reform?
Sing Tao Daily, Posted: Aug 02, 2009
TEMPLE CITY, California— The Sing Tao Daily reports that Chinese medicine and acupuncture groups are pushing for their health services to be included in the national health care reform. President of the Council of Acupuncture Oriental Medicine Associations An Yue Li believes Asian Americans who use Chinese medicine as a treatment should be covered. Chinese medicine has become an affordable treatment for many people as the cost for traditional treatment is increasing. Moreover, the groups are advocating for federal bill HR 646, which proposes to include similar services in Medicare. U.S. congressmembers Dianne Feinstein and Adam Schiff support both initiatives. There are about 26,000 people practicing Chinese medicine in the United States, and 16,000 of them are in California.
Hey now.
I’ve found acupuncture to be highly effective in curing every psychosomatic illness I’ve ever had.
Acupuncture is fantastic therapy for some sports injuries. If you must have a socialized medical system it makes sense to cover acupuncture.
Coupled with suction cup therapy, acupuncture fixed my wrecked shoulder where months of traditional physiotherapy hadn’t worked at all.
..have soup with that sandwich
I’d love to see acupuncture included. I think a few sessions of acupuncture could be less expensive than long term treatment for certain conditions. But since Obama has advocated taking a pain pill instead of having surgery, I doubt the use of acupuncture will be covered. It’s more expensive than a generic pain pill (if there are any left after they pull what they consider to be the dangerous ones off the market).
suction cup? as in drain plunger? acuplunger!
Health insurance is already required to pay for all kinds of treatments that many people never use and don’t want. Lobbyists for various health related groups and professions grease the palms of state legislators and force insurers to provide coverage of their pet illness or treatment. It makes all of us pay for a lot of BS.
Let there be a true free market in health care where we only pay for what we want and need in both insurance and treatment!
I've tried many different types of treatments and finally found a GOOD acupuncturist that was able to relieve decades long back problems. If you can find a good doctor (usually trained in China) you'll be in good hands.
Acupuncture and TCM are very effective.
> suction cup? as in drain plunger? acuplunger!
They’re like large glass shot-glasses, with a one-way valve to suck out the air.
The rim is moistened and then the “shot-glass” is placed on your skin — in my case it was my back around my munged shoulder. Then they suck out the air with a pump, up to an agreed pressure. Then they repeat for however many suction cups they’re going to use — in my case 12 to 16.
The suction cups “suck” your muscle tissue and nerves off of your bones — literally — sort of like a massage-in-reverse. And they leave perfectly-round deep purple bruises, like you’ve been fighting an octopus. They leave the cups on for about a half hour, and they feel great!
So, you can imagine how well that would work if you had pinched nerves (as I did) that needed to get clear of the joint that was pinching them — there really is no other way short of surgery to do it.
They combine that with acupuncture, which are several dozen ultra-sharp thin needles, strategically placed onto nerve endings. You don’t feel them go in, they’re that sharp. Then they fire a randomly-pulsating electrical current thru two of the needles. This causes your nerves to “fire off” and causes your muscles to contract: it doesn’t hurt, it feels marvelous, better than any massage you have ever had.
I have fallen asleep during acupuncture many, many times. Many people do: it is fantastic sports injury therapy.
I should also add that in neither the suction cup therapy nor the acupuncture was there any blood involved. None.
The acupuncture needles are used once and then discarded. They are one-time use.
I’ll pass in favor of Swedish massage.
Lots of physicians use acupuncture. Cupping, though: not so much. We now have a certified acupuncturist working out of our hospital....I am not aware of the terms of her practice, but it isn’t cheap, while the physicians, AFAIK, can charge for their time, but not for the practice, per se.
There are modalities in massage that involve lifting the muscle off the bone, but after a decent interval of relaxation of that muscle and skin-rolling techniques designed to loosen the bond between the muscle and fascia. It does work well.
Personally, I am not in favor of causing hematomas on clients. I have seen folks after a cupping session. I would rather have deep-tissue massage. But, everyone is different, so of course, keep it up if it works for you.
As a retired medical massage therapist whose husband is still practicing we do not want the government or the insurance companies to cover our work. We experienced this during an experimental program back around 10 years ago. They begin with the authorization process before you can even accept an appointment. Then, they can mandate that their policyholders get preferential appointments, even when they are usually more non-compliant. By the time you are almost out of business, the demand for the preferences for policyholders has decimated any other regular practice. Then they begin to dictate what area you can work (as prescribed by a gatekeeper physician) and for how long (15-minute increments). This is already the norm in PT, as well as limits on number of covered sessions and contributes greatly, IMO, to the number of PT patients who fail their course of treatment and then improve under massage protocols.
Payment is within 120 days, making it difficult to deal with cash flow. Sometimes payments are bundled and paid within 180 days!
We have already spoken to a couple of area D.O.s about becoming gatekeepers if medical massage is mandated for coverage. At least they understand the modality and are too busy being physicians to feel threatened.
I fear that the efficacy of complementary modalities will be undermined if the government or the insurance companies get involved. So far, most of our covered clients are either under a cafeteria section of their policy, which zerO will get rid of, or they are Workman’s comp, where the client pays and is then reimbursed under the policy that pertains. That has worked out alright for both the practitioner and the client.
Are the complementary modalities covered under the public system in NZ?
“I’ve found acupuncture to be highly effective in curing every psychosomatic illness I’ve ever had.”
I think you’re right. I am a sceptic, but I tried acupunture once — it did nothing for me.
> Are the complementary modalities covered under the public system in NZ?
Yes — particularly under the ACC system (Accident Compensation Commission). That is the “public” system that pays for our no-fault accidents.
(In New Zealand it is impossible to sue or be sued for personal injury. Such events are “no-fault” and treated by ACC, which seeks to return the patient to as close to full health as is possible)
ACC is funded by levy from employers and vehicle drivers.
Under the standard public medical system (which is basic acute and chronic treatment) complementary modalities are also covered, depending upon what it is and how it is needed.
They are also definitely covered under our private medical system.
(so you can see, there are several “systems” at work here, not just one huge mega-system like what ObamaCare seems to be proposed as)
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