01-30-1995

ACCESS/QUALITY/COST - ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS: ACCEPTANCE IS INCREASING

           "Treatments once scorned by the medical establishment (and
      still viewed warily by many doctors) are gaining coverage from"
      health insurance companies.  Under the header, "Health Insurers
      Embrace Eye-of-Newt Therapy," W.S. JOURNAL reports on the
      increased coverage of alternative medicine, due in part to
      consumer demand and the possibility of long-term cost savings.
      Six states require private insurers to cover acupuncture and 41
      states require coverage for chiropractic care.  According to
      Group Health Assn. of America, the number of HMOs covering
      chiropractic care rose from 28.4% in '92 to 46.6% in '93.  In
      addition, midwives, massage therapists, osteopaths and others
      "have also gained in acceptance as more" insurers are
      reimbursing, or providing referrals, for their services.
           WHO'S DOING IT?  JOURNAL cites several insurers that cover
      alternative care:  American Western Life Insurance Co., whose
      "Wellness Plan" features a "24-hour holistic hotline;" the
      Harvard Community Health Plan; Alliance for Alternatives in
      Health Care, a small, CA purchasing co-op; BC of Washington and
      Alaska; Mutual of Omaha and Prudential.  But many large insurers
      "remain unconvinced."  Health Insurance Assn. of America's
      Richard Coorsh:  "We really have to wait for the science to
      happen."  American Western's Marcel Hernandez disagrees:  "When
      you talk to the other insurance companies, it's like they're
      blinded by the dollar.  But the dollar is going to elude them as
      long as they stay entrenched in the old ways.  It's common
      knowledge that everything changes.  Why not be in tune with the
      change?" (Carton, 1/30).
           WE'RE IN TUNE:  Enrollment at Maryland's Traditional
      Acupuncture Institute has "nearly doubled" in the last two years
      to 113 students.  Balto. SUN:  "That rapid growth is part of a
      national trend, as acupuncture continues to move from being
      denigrated as a 'fringe' medical treatment to assuming a position
      with mainstream health care."  According to the SUN, a '90 study
      found that one-third of all Americans used some type of
      alternative medicine that year, accounting for about two percent
      of U.S. health spending.  Since '85, the number of nationally
      accredited schools has increased from six to 18, and eight more
      are in the process of seeking accreditation.  SUN notes that
      Maryland was one of the first states to permit acupuncture to be
      performed by a non-physician.  BC/BS of Maryland has covered
      acupuncture for 12 years (Libit, 1/28).


American Healthline