The American Society of Acupuncturists (ASA) is urgently requesting your assistance. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Pain Management Best Practices Task Force recently wrote a report, "Draft Report on Pain Management Best Practices: Updates, Gaps, Inconsistencies, and Recommendations."
In this draft, the Task Force very strongly recommends a multidisciplinary approach to pain management, including Complementary and Integrative Health, behavioral health/psychological interventions, as well as restorative movement therapies. Acupuncture is specifically named (see section 2.6). This document more clearly and positively includes many types of integrative health providers than any report previously put forth. However, many who are not supportive of integrative approaches are submitting comments arguing for a continued reliance on pharmacological approaches to pain.
This report represents a quantum leap in HHS pain policy, and as an acupuncturist, it is imperative that you, and as many of us in the Complementary and Integrative Health community, respond positively to the call for public comment, due by April 1, 2019.
In your comment please refer to docket number: HHS-OS-2018-0027. Also, identify yourself as a patient, clinician, or representative of an organization with your name and title. You may also send an email to your patients asking them to write a short note of support as well.
Our profession needs to be represented in future clinical practice guidelines, government policy documents, and reports such as this. Once a report such as this is accepted, there will be future opportunities to build on the progress.
You may use the government portal, or send your comments in an email to: paintaskforce@hhs.gov.
Governor Gavin Newsom has retracted the proposed budget cuts to the Medi-Cal acupuncture program for low-income Californians for the 2024-2025 budget year. This decision marks a significant victory for health care providers and advocates who have long championed acupuncture as a vital component of comprehensive medical care.
There’s no doubt that many of your patients visit your practice because they are in pain. And there’s certainly no doubt that curcumin from turmeric (Curcuma longa) can be incredibly effective in stopping that pain, whether due to chronic conditions like arthritis or acute pain from intensive workouts. But your patients may also benefit from curcumin for other reasons.
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Fair and appropriate wages in health care are typically based on economic evaluations. A simple literature review illuminates that acupuncture is missing economic evaluations; which implies you are either underpaid or overpaid. The complexity of services provided by most American acupuncturists, which they are trained and certified to provide, must be reimbursed fairly.
