Referring to healthcare reform as a “hot topic” would be a gross understatement. The potential societal (and political) implications that accompany an undertaking of this magnitude have jumped to the forefront of headline news and daily conversation.

As a person interested in alternative approaches like chiropractic and acupuncture, you may be wondering how your future rehab and wellness benefits might be administered under the new law, and whether the reform is favorable to complementary medicine.

We were pleased to learn of these pro-patient provisions specified in the healthcare reform law:
The END of preexisting exclusions and unfair coverage terminations. Insurance as we now know it contains steep and frightening coverage restrictions against conditions you may have had treated while you were covered under another plan or when you were between jobs and insurance policies. Further, many of us know someone who was dropped from their insurance plan – or who reached their plan’s “lifetime max” – when they became seriously ill and needed coverage the most.

The new law eliminates these types of unfair/untimely termination and benefit caps, and provides a lifeline for the uninsurable: a special pool of high-risk insurance from which no one can be excluded. An added benefit, adult children can remain as dependents on their parents’ plan until age 26.

Provider nondiscrimination. Direct language included in the law prohibits discrimination by insurance companies based on a provider’s license or participation (in-net or out-of-net). Could this signal an end to arbitrary denials of covered benefits billed by a chiropractor or acupuncturist?

Interdisciplinary community health teams. The law specifically includes doctors of chiropractic as potential members of patient-centered, integrative holistic teams whose purpose is to emphasize comprehensive, coordinated care.

The summary provided herein is an interpretation of publicly available information and is not a promise or guarantee of any outcome.