Affordable Care Act Covers Acupuncture For Pain Management

By Brittney de Vicq, MAc, LAc

West Annapolis Acupuncture

. http://brittneyacupuncture.com/

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Affordable Care Act Covers Acupuncture For Pain Management

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, went into effect on the first of this year. The Act outlines ten essential health benefits and leaves it up to individual states to decide the details for their citizens. Maryland is only one of two states that cover acupuncture under their Affordable Care Act. California is the other one.

Maryland's Lt. Governor Anthony G. Brown presided over the Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council. The council, charged with defining essential health benefits, chose from among ten existing insurance plans already available in the State of Maryland. The benchmark plan chosen was one already provided to state workers. The plan includes acupuncture for pain management as part of the preventative and wellness care essential health benefit.

Many health care plans offered by private employers, as well as those provided to state workers already covered acupuncture for pain management, but as of January 1, 2014 any person that purchases health care insurance through the Maryland Health Connection, marylandhealthconnection.gov, is covered as well.

Acupuncture is part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and among the oldest healing practices in the world. Practitioners stimulate specific points on the body most often by inserting thin needles through the skin. This regulates the flow of Qi (vital energy) along pathways known as meridians.

According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, an estimated 3.1 million Americans said they had used acupuncture in the past year. Acupuncture has been studied for a wide range of pain conditions, such as postoperative dental pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, headache, low-back pain, menstrual cramps, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, and tennis elbow. Acupuncture has also been studied for a variety of other pain conditions, including arm and shoulder pain, pregnancy-related pelvic and back pain, and temporomandibular joint (jaw) dysfunction.

After the study was published, Dr. Lucy Chen, a board-certified anesthesiologist, specialist in pain medicine, and practicing acupuncturist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital commented that, “I think the benefit of acupuncture is clear, and the complications and potential adverse effects of acupuncture are low compared with medication.”