Holistic Coverage

Holistic therapies such as acupuncture and shiatsu massage are becoming as mainstream and routine as a trip to the dentist. But getting adequate insurance coverage for such treatments is anything but the norm. As Emily Dulcan reports for Conscious Choice, somewhere between one third and one half of the nearly $50 billion Americans spend on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) a year are out-of-pocket expenses.

Alternative Medicine explains that insurance companies have typically shied away from approving CAM claims because of a lack of studies testing the efficacy of the treatments. Efforts are underway, however, to remove that roadblock. Both the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the state of Washington are currently working to bolster holistic medicine with further studies of the field. And a few inroads are being made on the coverage front. Dulcan reports that in Washington 'every state-regulated insurance plan must cover some number of licensed alternative practitioners.' In other states, some insurers now offer partial benefits or discounts -- as with Aetna and Kaiser Permanente -- but coverage is often limited and more expensive. In the case of Blue Shield of California, the decision of whether employees will have to pay extra for holistic coverage rests on the employer.

While there are a growing number of insurers offering some coverage, their numbers are still few and finding them can be a daunting task. Enter Alternative Health Insurance Services, an innovative company that helps match folks up with group insurance plans that accept claims for alternative therapies. For founder Steve Gorman, this approach isn't just about offering alternatives; it's about saving money. 'If you can prevent somebody from getting a major illness, even if it costs a little more on the front end… that would save tons and tons of money, rather than waiting until someone has a disease and then treating it.' Such cost efficiency, Alternative Medicine explains, is rooted in holistic medicine's focus on disease prevention, rehabilitation, and the elimination of the need for costly pain medications and further procedures.