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More insurers are paying for alternative remedies
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
AP Medical Writer
Published:
Acupuncture, not pain pills that “make me loopy,” is what Cynde Durnford-Branecki wants for her aching back, and a treatment costs her only a $20 copayment.
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“If I didn’t have insurance, there’s no way I could afford to go,” said the 51-year-old graphic designer who lives in San Diego.
After years of being lobbied for more choice, insurers and employers increasingly are covering alternative therapies. There are even alternative “HMOs” — networks of nontraditional providers that sell services to big employers and individuals.
It is one of the last frontiers for moving alternative medicine into the mainstream, fans say. Some are pushing to require or expand coverage as part of health care reform.
Choice may sound like a good idea, but it can lead more people to use remedies they may not realize are of unproven value. It also can mean the people who use those treatments will wind up paying for them, rather than have their insurer pay for proven remedies. Here’s how:
-- Insurers only cover a narrow range of alternative services for specific conditions where there is evidence of value, such as chiropractors for some types of back pain. But these services are marketed for many other uses that lack such proof, such as chiropractic treatments for asthma or ear infections, and acupuncture for high blood pressure or insomnia. Patients can be stuck with the tab, even though the provider is in their insurer’s network.
n Most insurers do not pay for herbals and dietary supplements because they are of unproven safety and worth. Yet some insurers, such as Aetna, let sellers advertise supplements to members, which can imply a benefit and coverage. Kaiser Permanente’s HMO carries many supplements in its pharmacies and allows its network doctors to “prescribe” ones that it then sells to members, who pay the full cost.
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