Americans Spend $34 Billion on Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Over the past few months, there has been a lot of talk about health care, or more accurately, health insurance reform. Obviously, any significant change coming from the Federal or State level will impact the Marino Center. It is my sense that our focus on primary care within an integrative delivery model will put us in a good position for the coming changes.

Within the currently proposed legislation, the value of primary care is being touted as a key to getting better health status outcomes through prevention and wellness leading to less dollars spent on “fixing” health problems that could have been prevented. Further, a recent a survey conducted by the CDC’s, National Center for Health Statistics reported that $34 billon dollars, or 1.5% of total medical costs were spent on Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The biggest single expenditure was for non-vitamin, non-mineral herbal supplements and other products (almost $15 billion) followed by practitioner visits ($12 billion), stretching and meditation-related classes such as yoga, tai chi, and qigong (($4 billion), homeopathic medicines ($2.9 billion) and relaxation techniques ($0.2 billion). Chronic pain, especially back pain, is by far the biggest reason that people turn to complementary and alternative treatments.

Other highlights from the report include:

- In 2007, 38 million adults made an estimated 354 million visits to CAM practitioners
- Two-thirds of the out-of-pocket spending were for treatments that did not involve a practitioner, such as over-the-counter herbal therapies and other therapies, classes and materials

Previously reported figures based on the same national survey showed that 38% of adults and 12% of children under the age of 18 used some type of alternative medicine in 2007.

Note: portions of he above was extracted from a WebMD Health News article

Senators Seek Coverage for Alternative Therapies

Last week, the Boston Globe reported that Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa is leading an effort to win insurance coverage for naturopathic doctors, herbal healers, mind-body specialists, and acupuncturists as part of health care reform. Backers of this amendment claim it could save tens of billions of dollars in the long run by providing less expensive and better alternatives to drugs and surgery in a variety of cases.

It is interesting to note that the amendment has bipartisan support as it is backed by Senator Mike Enzi, the ranking Republican on the Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. This committee agreed to pass the measure onto the Senate Finance Committee, which is working on companion legislation that may include crucial language regarding potential reimbursement.

Supporters of this amendment greet this action as a real breakthrough, regardless of the final outcome. It certainly confirms the model of care offered at the Marino Center.

In a general sense, the bigger picture here is that more attention is being paid to the front end of the health care system, i.e., prevention, wellness, and management of chronic conditions. This would be real health care reform if things move in this direction. Stay tuned.