How regulated is your medicine? When I first started in TCM, I was asked this question often by the patients who I treated. A decade ago, a TCM practitioner had to be licensed and apply for recertification every two years; this hasn’t changed. To get a license, an aspiring TCM practitioner had to pass the national boards. This requirement hasn’t changed.
What has changed is the landscape of the field. What do I mean by this? More insurance companies are looking to cover Acupuncture in their plans. After years of viewing the success Acupuncture has in treating pain, they have now made Acupuncture assessable to their customers.
The result of this is that practitioners, like me, now have to apply to be a TCM provider on their plans. To qualify to be a provider, I have to abide by the insurance company’s own set of regulatory guidelines. Each insurance company has their own set of guidelines.
An even more recent phenomenon concerns government insurers, like Medicare and the Veteran insurance system. Again, for me to be part of their plan, I have to apply and ensure that I appease their own regulations. I believe the government issued regulators’ parameters are stringent than private insurers.
Is it worth bring part of such plans? I answer this with a resounding Yes! By being part of the se plans, I now have access to patients that wouldn’t consider TCM due to the out of pocket expense. Now, they can try Acupuncture and their insurance covers the cost. I have often had patients come to me even after their insurance coverage expires, having no problem in paying me cash.
In addition to an increase in accessibility, with more insurance coverage, TCM will be viewed as more mainstream. The result is that we will be more able to work with our fellow Western trained practitioners. That’s a win all around.