"A Return to Healing" Blog: Fri, 12/04/2009 - 11:14 — BBelitsos
In a very helpful article authored by our friends at the American Association for Health Freedom, we learned that the 40 percent of Americans who pay out of our pockets for some form of natural healing or integrative medicine will get much needed recognition in the Senate version of the health care bill now being debated on the Senate floor. In essence, language now included in the Senate bill represents the first-ever instance of the inclusion of integrative medicine in any federally designed program--a great milestone for all of us if these provisions make it into the final bill, if one is indeed passed. When fighting such uphill battles against "cartel medicine," getting anywhere in Congressional legislation is a signal achievement. For this we must credit executive director Gretchen DuBeau at the AAHP and many others who have worked to insert support for integral health into (1) the administration's Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) plan, which was part of the early-2009 emergency stimulus bill, as well as (2) into health care reform legislation itself. Because of these efforts, the current version of CER legislation requires representation of at least one practitioner of integrative medicine on the CER board, and mandates there be "experts in integrative health and primary prevention strategies" on the CER advisory panel. In addition, the Senate legislation creates a "National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council" to develop national priorities and strategy, and a few other positive provisions noted in the article. Below see selected quotes from this December 1 article at the AAHP website, entitled:, "A Ray of Light in the Dark: Integrative Healthcare Included in Senate Healthcare Bill's Language"
[Here is the link for the full article:]
http://www.healthfreedom.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9...
"We have been assisted by many friends on the Hill ranging from Senator Harkin, a Democrat, to Congressmen Ron Paul, a Republican. We are now very grateful to Senators Mikulski and Conrad, who at our urging worked with other senators to modify the current senate healthcare bill to include representation for the integrative medicine community.
"The CER Commission established by the bill would determine areas of national medical priority and commission research to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of various treatments for particular conditions. The stated intent is to determine the best treatments and then provide this information to policymakers, clinicians, healthcare payers, and the public to better inform healthcare decision making.
"First established in the stimulus bill, CER is controversial for good reason. Any such government body will very likely be captured by special interests such as drug companies, medical equipment manufacturers, or the AMA. It may also lead to a one-size fits all system of medicine. Knowing that the CER program is a non-negotiable item for both President Obama and Congress, we have been working to ensure that any system created to fund and evaluate medical treatments will at the very least provide an even playing field for integrative medicine. In a best case, CER would also fund research about non-patentable and thus largely ignored natural treatments.
"Thanks to Senators Mikulski and Conrad, along with other friends, the senate healthcare bill now requires that the CER board include at least one integrative healthcare practitioner along with healthcare consumers, physicians, private payers, and pharmaceutical and diagnostic manufacturers. It also includes, as appropriate, experts in integrative health and primary prevention strategies on the CER advisory panel. This marks the first inclusion of integrative medicine in any federally designed program. While we have miles to go, these are powerful first steps.
"Other important provisions in the senate healthcare bill include the following:
* Inclusion of a “Sense of the Senate” that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) should restructure their scoring of integrative medicine. Currently, when scoring legislation to determine the cost of a bill, the CBO assumes the cost of preventive services are realized initially and are not offset by later savings. For example, nutritional counseling is seen solely as a cost, not as a way to prevent and control diabetes, thereby saving billions. Although Sense of the Senate expresses the Senate’s opinion rather than creating law, this is a strong statement about the need to restructure CBO accounting, and one we hope the CBO will seriously consider.
* Establishment of a National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council to develop a national preventive and integrative healthcare strategy. The council will be advised by a group of experts required to include diverse health professionals including integrative health practitioners who have expertise in preventive medicine. The national plan also mandates a list of national priorities on health promotion to address lifestyle behavior modification including proper nutrition. Again, the senate has mandated the inclusion of integrative health practitioners in yet another program that, should the bill pass in this form, will strongly influence the direction of our health system. We are also pleased to see true prevention, such as nutrition, included in the list of priorities.
* Group health plans and issuers offering group or individual health insurance coverage are required to report on whether coverage benefits under healthcare plans includes wellness and health promotion activities. The bill states that wellness programs may include personalized services that may be geared toward smoking cessation, weight management, stress management, physical fitness, heart disease prevention, healthy lifestyle support, and diabetes prevention. While there is no requirement these preventive services be covered by healthcare insurance, the suggested areas of inclusion within wellness coverage is a step in the right direction."
Health care reform is in the news but it is no more than insurance reform and preservation of the status quo for Big Pharma and the medical industry. Certainly we all deserve health care, but we also need a system that preserves wellness and is focused on prevention. The corruption of Congress, Big Pharma, medical insurance, FDA, CDC, medical education and medical research are reviewed.
