On June 29, 2006, Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz (D), 13th district, Pennsylvania, became the 50th co-sponsor of H.R. 818, the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act of 2005. Rep. Schwartz represents Philadelphia's northwest suburbs.
Rep. Schwartz joins Rep. Robert A. Brady (D), 1st district, who also represents Philadelphia, and is a three-time co-sponsor of the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act, in becoming the second member of the 19-member Pennsylvania congressional delegation to co-sponsor Rep. Maurice Hinchey's (D), 22nd district, New York, acupuncture bill in the 109th Congress, (2005-2006).
Rep. Schwartz and the other sponsors make up half of the 100 co-sponsors needed for Rep. Hinchey's bill to encourage the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health to hold a hearing on this important piece of legislation. H.R. 818 would amend Title 18 of the Social Security Act by reimbursing qualified acupuncturist's services under Medicare Part B, and amend Title 5 of the U.S. Code by reimbursing qualified acupuncturist's services under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program. In the last Congress, the 108th (2003-2004), there were 63 co-sponsors of H.R. 1477, the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act of 2003.
Your help is needed to help move this bill. Please contact Robert E. Marcus, J. D, of Marcus & Associates, lobbyist for the AOM Alliance and the Council of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Associations (CAOMA), by e-mail at Marcus_Associates@yahoo.com, or by telephone at (276) 492-8098, so you can find out the name of your U.S. Representative and how you can urge your congressperson to become a co-sponsor of H.R. 818.
