Minutus

Friends,

The PBS NEWSHOUR has reported below on a report by Kaiser News. This is GREAT news. Here's where health care reform may actually lead to REAL health improvement...

Please note that this is great news for licensed homeopaths, naturopaths, acupuncturists, and chiropractors and their patients.

--Dana Ullman

How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
July 29, 2013 - 4:38am
The Affordable Care Act says that insurance companies "shall not discriminate" against any state-licensed health provider, which could lead to better coverage of chiropractic, homeopathic and naturopathic care. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

Jane Guiltinan said the husbands are usually the stubborn ones.

When her regular patients, often married women, bring their spouses to the Bastyr Center for Natural Health to try her approach to care, the men are often skeptical of the treatment plan -- a mix of herbal remedies, lifestyle changes and sometimes, conventional medicine.

After 31 years of practice, Guiltinan, a naturopathic physician, said it is not uncommon for health providers without the usual nurse or doctor background to confront patients' doubts. "I think it's a matter of education and cultural change," she said.

As for the husbands -- they often come around, Guiltinan said, but only after they see that her treatments solve their problems.

Complementary and alternative medicine -- a term that encompasses meditation, acupuncture, chiropractic care and homeopathic treatment, among other things -- has become increasingly popular. About four in 10 adults (and one in nine children) in the U.S. are using some form of alternative medicine, according to the National Institutes of Health.

And with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the field could make even more headway in the mainstream health care system. That is, unless the fine print -- in state legislation and insurance plans -- falls short because of unclear language and insufficient oversight.

One clause of the health law in particular -- Section 2706 -- is widely discussed in the alternative medicine community because it requires that insurance companies "shall not discriminate" against any health provider with a state-recognized license. That means a licensed chiropractor treating a patient for back pain, for instance, must be reimbursed the same as medical doctors. In addition, nods to alternative medicine are threaded through other parts of the law in sections on wellness, prevention and research.

"It's time that our health care system takes an integrative approach ... whether conventional or alternative," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who authored the anti-discrimination provision, in an e-mail. "Patients want good outcomes with good value, and complementary and alternative therapies can provide both."

The federal government has, in recent years, tapped providers like Guiltinan, who is also the dean at the Bastyr University College of Naturopathic Medicine, to help advise the federal government and implement legislation that could affect the way they are paid and their disciplines are incorporated into the health care continuum. In 2012, Guiltinan, based in Kenmore, Wash., was appointed to the advisory council of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Proving that alternative medicine has real, measurable benefits has been key to increasing its role in the system, said John Weeks, editor of the Integrator Blog, an online publication for the alternative medicine community. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, created by the health law, is funding studies on alternative medicine treatments to determine their effectiveness.

Weeks said both lawmakers and the general public will soon have access to that research, including the amount of money saved by integrating other forms of medicine into the current health system.

But the challenges of introducing alternative care don't stop with science.

Because under the health care law each state defines its essential benefits plan -- what is covered by insurance -- somewhat differently, the language concerning alternative medicine has to be very specific in terms of who gets paid and for what kinds of treatment, said Deborah Senn, the former insurance commissioner in Washington and an advocate for alternative medicine coverage.

She pointed out that California excluded coverage for chiropractic care in its essential benefits plan, requiring patients to pay out of pocket for their treatment. Senn thinks the move was most likely an oversight and an unfavorable one for the profession. Four other states -- Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Utah -- ruled the same way in the past year.

"That's just an outright violation of the law," she said, referring to the ACA clause.

Colorado and Oregon are in the process of changing that ruling to allow chiropractic care to be covered, according to researchers at Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care.

Some states, like Washington, are ahead of the rest of the country in embracing alternative practitioners. The Bastyr University system, where Guiltinan works, treats 35,000 patients a year with naturopathic medicine. Sixty percent of the patients billed insurance companies for coverage.

Guiltinan said a change in the system is not only a boon for alternative medicine doctors, but helps families of all income levels access care normally limited to out-of-pocket payment. That's why some alternative medicine aficianados like Rohit Kumar are hoping the law will increase the ability of his family -- and the larger community - to obtain this kind of care.

Kumar, a 26-year-old business owner in Los Angeles, said his parents and brothers have always used herbs and certain foods when they get sick, and regularly see a local naturopath and herbalist. He's only used antibiotics once, he says, when he caught dengue fever on a trip to India.

While the Kumar family pays for any treatments they need with cash -- the only payment both alternative providers accept -- they also pay for a high-deductible health plan every month to cover emergencies, like when his brother recently broke his arm falling off a bike.

Paying for a conventional health care plan and maintaining their philosophy of wellness is not cheap.

"We pay a ridiculous amount of money every month," Kumar said of the high-deductible insurance. "And none of it goes toward any type of medicine we believe in."

Even so, he said the family will continue to practice a lifestyle that values wellness achieved without a prescription -- a philosophy that Guiltinan also adopted in her practice.

As a young medical technician in a San Francisco hospital, she decided that the traditional medical system was geared more toward managing diseases and symptoms rather than prevention. Naturopathic medicine, on the other hand, seemed to fit her idea of how a doctor could address the root cause of illness.

"The body has an innate ability for healing, but we get in its way," Guiltinan said. "Health is more than the absence of disease."

Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
http://www.netnebraska.org/node/865239
Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH
Homeopathic Educational Services
812 Camelia St.
Berkeley, CA. 94710
510-649-0294
email@homeopathic.com
dullman@igc.org (personal)
www.homeopathic.com (website)
www.Huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman (blog)

Hate to be the yang of this yin but do you really think with the "new" health care plan that will be overseen and directed by the irs that they will be looking out for the best interest of the people. The government is bought and paid for by big pharma, big argo, dairy council, etc... ever seen the raids on the raw milk farmers? its like a seen from cops going after a meth lab. fbi, swat and local law are obligated to protect the interest of big $$, NOT the people.
i wish this story was true, i wish the country started acting like the county was crafted to be. for the people, but as the government grows bigger, and the money flows, it is less about what you can do for your country but what can big $$ do for me.
something as BIG as the bee crisis is being countered by the KILLER bee stories as front line news. if organic foods can be traced to an outbreak of any sickness, for sure we will all hear about it repeatedly on all forms of media. if one person gets sick form alleged over dose of "natural" vitamin supplements we will all know. if a thousand die from side effects of a new drug it might make a page lower corner of the newspaper.
Money will rule this health care plan as it does all government controlled issues.
what we can do is demand elected officials to so what they promise, hold them accountable and fire their &^%^*% if they forget their duties as REPRESENTING the interest of the people that elected them. don't get your info from the bought and paid for media. just turn off the tv during an election. look at voting records, moral and ethical integrity of those running. see who is bank rolling their election. who they meet with, past business associates.
Our health care cost could be cut in half with in a year if we were allowed to spend our health care dollars as we saw fit. if the truth about alternative care results compared to western drug based care would come out our country would be healthier and wealthier, as a whole. sadly it is those who control the information that are the only ones really getting wealthier and more powerful the longer the people stay in the dark.
i realize for the most part i am preaching to the choir here but don't let articles like this make this health care plan look better than it is. look at fact that those states already delegating where the money will flow are directing it to big pharma. if our health care dollars will now be forced into a plan that we can not choose but a plan approved by the government i believe it will be worse for those seeking alternative care options. the money we could have used for care we choose will be taken from us and if we want to use it we must go to their approved doctors with approved treatment. otherwise we will have to find additional money to see health care practitioners of our choice.
like it has been said before, the only way we will know how this will work and what is in it is AFTER it is fully funded and implemented.
so, for me personally, i will push my rep's to NOT fund it. i personally don't have the money to pay for health care i will never voluntarily to part in. i will never allow them to inject my family with toxic chemicals because it is the governments requirements. from everything i have read on this plan the persons right to choice will slowly and completely taken away. butt this will never be reported in the news....
jmo
vicki
Join the Campaign to Label GMO's in Florida
We have the Right to Know what is in our Food!
http://www.LabelGMOFlorida.com
Like us @ Label GMO Florida
on Fac ebook and Twitter
"Gluten Free Yummies"
www.GlutenFreeYummies.com

888-Yo-Yummy
________________________________

From: "Dana Ullman, MPH"
To: Minutus
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 10:00 AM
Subject: [Minutus] How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
Friends,

The PBS NEWSHOUR has reported below on a report by Kaiser News. This is GREAT news. Here's where health care reform may actually lead to REAL health improvement...

Please note that this is great news for licensed homeopaths, naturopaths, acupuncturists, and chiropractors and their patients.

--Dana Ullman

How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
July 29, 2013 - 4:38am

The Affordable Care Act says that insurance companies "shall not discriminate" against any state-licensed health provider, which could lead to better coverage of chiropractic, homeopathic and naturopathic care. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

Jane Guiltinan said the husbands are usually the stubborn ones.

When her regular patients, often married women, bring their spouses to the Bastyr Center for Natural Health to try her approach to care, the men are often skeptical of the treatment plan -- a mix of herbal remedies, lifestyle changes and sometimes, conventional medicine.

After 31 years of practice, Guiltinan, a naturopathic physician, said it is not uncommon for health providers without the usual nurse or doctor background to confront patients' doubts. "I think it's a matter of education and cultural change," she said.

As for the husbands -- they often come around, Guiltinan said, but only after they see that her treatments solve their problems.

Complementary and alternative medicine -- a term that encompasses meditation, acupuncture, chiropractic care and homeopathic treatment, among other things -- has become increasingly popular. About four in 10 adults (and one in nine children) in the U.S. are using some form of alternative medicine, according to the National Institutes of Health.

And with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the field could make even more headway in the mainstream health care system. That is, unless the fine print -- in state legislation and insurance plans -- falls short because of unclear language and insufficient oversight.

One clause of the health law in particular -- Section 2706 -- is widely discussed in the alternative medicine community because it requires that insurance companies "shall not discriminate" against any health provider with a state-recognized license. That means a licensed chiropractor treating a patient for back pain, for instance, must be reimbursed the same as medical doctors. In addition, nods to alternative medicine are threaded through other parts of the law in sections on wellness, prevention and research.

"It's time that our health care system takes an integrative approach ... whether conventional or alternative," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who authored the anti-discrimination provision, in an e-mail. "Patients want good outcomes with good value, and complementary and alternative therapies can provide both."

The federal government has, in recent years, tapped providers like Guiltinan, who is also the dean at the Bastyr University College of Naturopathic Medicine, to help advise the federal government and implement legislation that could affect the way they are paid and their disciplines are incorporated into the health care continuum. In 2012, Guiltinan, based in Kenmore, Wash., was appointed to the advisory council of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Proving that alternative medicine has real, measurable benefits has been key to increasing its role in the system, said John Weeks, editor of the Integrator Blog, an online publication for the alternative medicine community. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, created by the health law, is funding studies on alternative medicine treatments to determine their effectiveness.

Weeks said both lawmakers and the general public will soon have access to that research, including the amount of money saved by integrating other forms of medicine into the current health system.

But the challenges of introducing alternative care don't stop with science.

Because under the health care law each state defines its essential benefits plan -- what is covered by insurance -- somewhat differently, the language concerning alternative medicine has to be very specific in terms of who gets paid and for what kinds of treatment, said Deborah Senn, the former insurance commissioner in Washington and an advocate for alternative medicine coverage.

She pointed out that California excluded coverage for chiropractic care in its essential benefits plan, requiring patients to pay out of pocket for their treatment. Senn thinks the move was most likely an oversight and an unfavorable one for the profession. Four other states -- Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Utah -- ruled the same way in the past year.

"That's just an outright violation of the law," she said, referring to the ACA clause.

Colorado and Oregon are in the process of changing that ruling to allow chiropractic care to be covered, according to researchers at Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care.

Some states, like Washington, are ahead of the rest of the country in embracing alternative practitioners. The Bastyr University system, where Guiltinan works, treats 35,000 patients a year with naturopathic medicine. Sixty percent of the patients billed insurance companies for coverage.

Guiltinan said a change in the system is not only a boon for alternative medicine doctors, but helps families of all income levels access care normally limited to out-of-pocket payment. That's why some alternative medicine aficianados like Rohit Kumar are hoping the law will increase the ability of his family -- and the larger community - to obtain this kind of care.

Kumar, a 26-year-old business owner in Los Angeles, said his parents and brothers have always used herbs and certain foods when they get sick, and regularly see a local naturopath and herbalist. He's only used antibiotics once, he says, when he caught dengue fever on a trip to India.

While the Kumar family pays for any treatments they need with cash -- the only payment both alternative providers accept -- they also pay for a high-deductible health plan every month to cover emergencies, like when his brother recently broke his arm falling off a bike.

Paying for a conventional health care plan and maintaining their philosophy of wellness is not cheap.

"We pay a ridiculous amount of money every month," Kumar said of the high-deductible insurance. "And none of it goes toward any type of medicine we believe in."

Even so, he said the family will continue to practice a lifestyle that values wellness achieved without a prescription -- a philosophy that Guiltinan also adopted in her practice.

As a young medical technician in a San Francisco hospital, she decided that the traditional medical system was geared more toward managing diseases and symptoms rather than prevention. Naturopathic medicine, on the other hand, seemed to fit her idea of how a doctor could address the root cause of illness.

"The body has an innate ability for healing, but we get in its way," Guiltinan said. "Health is more than the absence of disease."

Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

http://www.netnebraska.org/node/865239

Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH
Homeopathic Educational Services
812 Camelia St.
Berkeley, CA. 94710
510-649-0294
email@homeopathic.com
dullman@igc.org (personal)
www.homeopathic.com (website)
www.Huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman (blog)

My friend and ND Mark Cooper in Colorado Springs has been battling the MDs to get naturopathic medicine recognized and registered in Colorado for years. He battled so hard that occasionally he would be snappy at me. But just recently, it seemed as though the politicians couldn't move fast enough to get it passed. Mark seems very happy about it, especially the part about him and other naturopaths being covered. I thought that it passed so very fast because Colorado politicians discovered that Colorado would be getting more money.

Although I am happy that we may be covered, I am still very unhappy about government intervention in the first place. It is because the MDs got a strangle hold on the government and used governmental power that they were able to suppress complementary healing in the first place. What happens if these government people cannot prove that homeopathy works. Are they going to disallow homeopathy like the ASA is doing in England? Give our power away to someone else is a loss of freedom and a loss of power. Mark my words. This may not be all that good in the long run.

Roger Bird
________________________________

To: minutus@yahoogroups.com
From: dullman@igc.org
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 07:00:04 -0700
Subject: [Minutus] How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access

Friends,

The PBS NEWSHOUR has reported below on a report by Kaiser News. This is GREAT news. Here's where health care reform may actually lead to REAL health improvement...

Please note that this is great news for licensed homeopaths, naturopaths, acupuncturists, and chiropractors and their patients.

--Dana Ullman

vicki,

I have only one disagreement. We will not know how this is going to end when "it is fully funded and implemented". Because they can always change it, like they are doing in England. I don't know if you have been watching, but there is a 5H1T storm in England over the ASA prohibiting homeopathy from advertising, and there may be more going on than that (I don't fully understand their system so I may have missed something). Fortunately we have a hero stepping foreward to protect us in the person the Charles Windsor, the future King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I never thought of myself as a Royalist before, but I can be persuaded.

Roger
________________________________

To: minutus@yahoogroups.com
From: vickih_fla@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 09:22:43 -0700
Subject: Re: [Minutus] How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
Hate to be the yang of this yin but do you really think with the "new" health care plan that will be overseen and directed by the irs that they will be looking out for the best interest of the people. The government is bought and paid for by big pharma, big argo, dairy council, etc... ever seen the raids on the raw milk farmers? its like a seen from cops going after a meth lab. fbi, swat and local law are obligated to protect the interest of big $$, NOT the people.
i wish this story was true, i wish the country started acting like the county was crafted to be. for the people, but as the government grows bigger, and the money flows, it is less about what you can do for your country but what can big $$ do for me.
something as BIG as the bee crisis is being countered by the KILLER bee stories as front line news. if organic foods can be traced to an outbreak of any sickness, for sure we will all hear about it repeatedly on all forms of media. if one person gets sick form alleged over dose of "natural" vitamin supplements we will all know. if a thousand die from side effects of a new drug it might make a page lower corner of the newspaper.
Money will rule this health care plan as it does all government controlled issues.
what we can do is demand elected officials to so what they promise, hold them accountable and fire their &^%^*% if they forget their duties as REPRESENTING the interest of the people that elected them. don't get your info from the bought and paid for media. just turn off the tv during an election. look at voting records, moral and ethical integrity of those running. see who is bank rolling their election. who they meet with, past business associates.
Our health care cost could be cut in half with in a year if we were allowed to spend our health care dollars as we saw fit. if the truth about alternative care results compared to western drug based care would come out our country would be healthier and wealthier, as a whole. sadly it is those who control the information that are the only ones really getting wealthier and more powerful the longer the people stay in the dark.
i realize for the most part i am preaching to the choir here but don't let articles like this make this health care plan look better than it is. look at fact that those states already delegating where the money will flow are directing it to big pharma. if our health care dollars will now be forced into a plan that we can not choose but a plan approved by the government i believe it will be worse for those seeking alternative care options. the money we could have used for care we choose will be taken from us and if we want to use it we must go to their approved doctors with approved treatment. otherwise we will have to find additional money to see health care practitioners of our choice.
like it has been said before, the only way we will know how this will work and what is in it is AFTER it is fully funded and implemented.
so, for me personally, i will push my rep's to NOT fund it. i personally don't have the money to pay for health care i will never voluntarily to part in. i will never allow them to inject my family with toxic chemicals because it is the governments requirements. from everything i have read on this plan the persons right to choice will slowly and completely taken away. butt this will never be reported in the news....
jmo
vicki
Join the Campaign to Label GMO's in Florida
We have the Right to Know what is in our Food!
http://www.LabelGMOFlorida.com
Like us @ Label GMO Florida
on Fac ebook and Twitter
"Gluten Free Yummies"
www.GlutenFreeYummies.com

888-Yo-Yummy
________________________________

From: "Dana Ullman, MPH"
To: Minutus
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 10:00 AM
Subject: [Minutus] How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
Friends,

The PBS NEWSHOUR has reported below on a report by Kaiser News. This is GREAT news. Here's where health care reform may actually lead to REAL health improvement...

Please note that this is great news for licensed homeopaths, naturopaths, acupuncturists, and chiropractors and their patients.

--Dana Ullman

How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
July 29, 2013 - 4:38am

The Affordable Care Act says that insurance companies "shall not discriminate" against any state-licensed health provider, which could lead to better coverage of chiropractic, homeopathic and naturopathic care. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

Jane Guiltinan said the husbands are usually the stubborn ones.

When her regular patients, often married women, bring their spouses to the Bastyr Center for Natural Health to try her approach to care, the men are often skeptical of the treatment plan -- a mix of herbal remedies, lifestyle changes and sometimes, conventional medicine.

After 31 years of practice, Guiltinan, a naturopathic physician, said it is not uncommon for health providers without the usual nurse or doctor background to confront patients' doubts. "I think it's a matter of education and cultural change," she said.

As for the husbands -- they often come around, Guiltinan said, but only after they see that her treatments solve their problems.

Complementary and alternative medicine -- a term that encompasses meditation, acupuncture, chiropractic care and homeopathic treatment, among other things -- has become increasingly popular. About four in 10 adults (and one in nine children) in the U.S. are using some form of alternative medicine, according to the National Institutes of Health.

And with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the field could make even more headway in the mainstream health care system. That is, unless the fine print -- in state legislation and insurance plans -- falls short because of unclear language and insufficient oversight.

One clause of the health law in particular -- Section 2706 -- is widely discussed in the alternative medicine community because it requires that insurance companies "shall not discriminate" against any health provider with a state-recognized license. That means a licensed chiropractor treating a patient for back pain, for instance, must be reimbursed the same as medical doctors. In addition, nods to alternative medicine are threaded through other parts of the law in sections on wellness, prevention and research.

"It's time that our health care system takes an integrative approach ... whether conventional or alternative," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who authored the anti-discrimination provision, in an e-mail. "Patients want good outcomes with good value, and complementary and alternative therapies can provide both."

The federal government has, in recent years, tapped providers like Guiltinan, who is also the dean at the Bastyr University College of Naturopathic Medicine, to help advise the federal government and implement legislation that could affect the way they are paid and their disciplines are incorporated into the health care continuum. In 2012, Guiltinan, based in Kenmore, Wash., was appointed to the advisory council of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Proving that alternative medicine has real, measurable benefits has been key to increasing its role in the system, said John Weeks, editor of the Integrator Blog, an online publication for the alternative medicine community. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, created by the health law, is funding studies on alternative medicine treatments to determine their effectiveness.

Weeks said both lawmakers and the general public will soon have access to that research, including the amount of money saved by integrating other forms of medicine into the current health system.

But the challenges of introducing alternative care don't stop with science.

Because under the health care law each state defines its essential benefits plan -- what is covered by insurance -- somewhat differently, the language concerning alternative medicine has to be very specific in terms of who gets paid and for what kinds of treatment, said Deborah Senn, the former insurance commissioner in Washington and an advocate for alternative medicine coverage.

She pointed out that California excluded coverage for chiropractic care in its essential benefits plan, requiring patients to pay out of pocket for their treatment. Senn thinks the move was most likely an oversight and an unfavorable one for the profession. Four other states -- Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Utah -- ruled the same way in the past year.

"That's just an outright violation of the law," she said, referring to the ACA clause.

Colorado and Oregon are in the process of changing that ruling to allow chiropractic care to be covered, according to researchers at Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care.

Some states, like Washington, are ahead of the rest of the country in embracing alternative practitioners. The Bastyr University system, where Guiltinan works, treats 35,000 patients a year with naturopathic medicine. Sixty percent of the patients billed insurance companies for coverage.

Guiltinan said a change in the system is not only a boon for alternative medicine doctors, but helps families of all income levels access care normally limited to out-of-pocket payment. That's why some alternative medicine aficianados like Rohit Kumar are hoping the law will increase the ability of his family -- and the larger community - to obtain this kind of care.

Kumar, a 26-year-old business owner in Los Angeles, said his parents and brothers have always used herbs and certain foods when they get sick, and regularly see a local naturopath and herbalist. He's only used antibiotics once, he says, when he caught dengue fever on a trip to India.

While the Kumar family pays for any treatments they need with cash -- the only payment both alternative providers accept -- they also pay for a high-deductible health plan every month to cover emergencies, like when his brother recently broke his arm falling off a bike.

Paying for a conventional health care plan and maintaining their philosophy of wellness is not cheap.

"We pay a ridiculous amount of money every month," Kumar said of the high-deductible insurance. "And none of it goes toward any type of medicine we believe in."

Even so, he said the family will continue to practice a lifestyle that values wellness achieved without a prescription -- a philosophy that Guiltinan also adopted in her practice.

As a young medical technician in a San Francisco hospital, she decided that the traditional medical system was geared more toward managing diseases and symptoms rather than prevention. Naturopathic medicine, on the other hand, seemed to fit her idea of how a doctor could address the root cause of illness.

"The body has an innate ability for healing, but we get in its way," Guiltinan said. "Health is more than the absence of disease."

Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

http://www.netnebraska.org/node/865239

Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH
Homeopathic Educational Services
812 Camelia St.
Berkeley, CA. 94710
510-649-0294
email@homeopathic.com
dullman@igc.org (personal)
www.homeopathic.com (website)
www.Huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman (blog)

well i agree with you on that part. according to what i have read recently, the prez was allowing big companies to get out of participating but the individual citizens will still be forced to start paying out of pocket for it the first of next year. this act contradicts the law and it should have gone back thru congress and voted on for it to be legal. sadly so much happens in washington that is illegal and they always seem to get away with it. i am not for any party, i vote by the issues and the person (sadly it is more and more voting against the worse candidate, it would be nice to have someone run that i would be happy to vote FOR) anyhow, there is a vote in two months in congress that will fund the new health care system or not fund it. if they vote to not fund it then they wont be able to start implementing it until at least when the big businesses are finally forced to participate.
i do not want to pay for a health care system that i will never use, my health care money goes to healthy food and alternative care, and my biggest fear is i will be required to get and have my children get vaccines and other treatments that the government will force as part of this governmental health care. we already know they try to force it already. especially the kids and having it required to get into school unless you jump thru a lot of hoops but they still try to inject my kids AT school anytime so outbreak is on the news...
if anyone wants to they can call their congress reps and tell them not to fund the new health care plan. i have and there is a website you can go to to sign the petition they will be taking to congress when it is time to vote. tell your senator of house rep that if they vote to fund it you will not be voting for them next time and will campaign against them if they run.
that seems to be the only thing that matters to these people. fear of losing their power.
the website is http://www.dontfundobamacare.com/ there is about 100K signatures now and we still have two months left. i am hoping for closer to a million when it is time.
obviously the congress people have big pressure from big pharma to vote to fund it. and sadly big pharma has big $$ to "help" influence the vote but if we can convince these people who are suppose to be voting to represent OUR vote and if they dont they wont be back their to continue to line their pockets with other lobbyist $$. i believe fear of lossing their seat is bigger then fear of losing a campaign contributor. i am probably wrong since if you have enough $$ you can win an election with lies but we now have the power of the internet to try to get the truth out. we just need people to start opening their eyes and speaking up.
jmo
vicki
Join the Campaign to Label GMO's in Florida
We have the Right to Know what is in our Food!
http://www.LabelGMOFlorida.com
Like us @ Label GMO Florida
on Fac ebook and Twitter
________________________________

From: Roger B
To: "Homeopathy minutus@yahoogroups.com"
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 3:51 PM
Subject: RE: [Minutus] How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
vicki,

I have only one disagreement. We will not know how this is going to end when "it is fully funded and implemented". Because they can always change it, like they are doing in England. I don't know if you have been watching, but there is a 5H1T storm in England over the ASA prohibiting homeopathy from advertising, and there may be more going on than that (I don't fully understand their system so I may have missed something). Fortunately we have a hero stepping foreward to protect us in the person the Charles Windsor, the future King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. I never thought of myself as a Royalist before, but I can be persuaded.

Roger
________________________________

To: minutus@yahoogroups.com
From: vickih_fla@yahoo.com
Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 09:22:43 -0700
Subject: Re: [Minutus] How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
Hate to be the yang of this yin but do you really think with the "new" health care plan that will be overseen and directed by the irs that they will be looking out for the best interest of the people. The government is bought and paid for by big pharma, big argo, dairy council, etc... ever seen the raids on the raw milk farmers? its like a seen from cops going after a meth lab. fbi, swat and local law are obligated to protect the interest of big $$, NOT the people.
i wish this story was true, i wish the country started acting like the county was crafted to be. for the people, but as the government grows bigger, and the money flows, it is less about what you can do for your country but what can big $$ do for me.
something as BIG as the bee crisis is being countered by the KILLER bee stories as front line news. if organic foods can be traced to an outbreak of any sickness, for sure we will all hear about it repeatedly on all forms of media. if one person gets sick form alleged over dose of "natural" vitamin supplements we will all know. if a thousand die from side effects of a new drug it might make a page lower corner of the newspaper.
Money will rule this health care plan as it does all government controlled issues.
what we can do is demand elected officials to so what they promise, hold them accountable and fire their &^%^*% if they forget their duties as REPRESENTING the interest of the people that elected them. don't get your info from the bought and paid for media. just turn off the tv during an election. look at voting records, moral and ethical integrity of those running. see who is bank rolling their election. who they meet with, past business associates.
Our health care cost could be cut in half with in a year if we were allowed to spend our health care dollars as we saw fit. if the truth about alternative care results compared to western drug based care would come out our country would be healthier and wealthier, as a whole. sadly it is those who control the information that are the only ones really getting wealthier and more powerful the longer the people stay in the dark.
i realize for the most part i am preaching to the choir here but don't let articles like this make this health care plan look better than it is. look at fact that those states already delegating where the money will flow are directing it to big pharma. if our health care dollars will now be forced into a plan that we can not choose but a plan approved by the government i believe it will be worse for those seeking alternative care options. the money we could have used for care we choose will be taken from us and if we want to use it we must go to their approved doctors with approved treatment. otherwise we will have to find additional money to see health care practitioners of our choice.
like it has been said before, the only way we will know how this will work and what is in it is AFTER it is fully funded and implemented.
so, for me personally, i will push my rep's to NOT fund it. i personally don't have the money to pay for health care i will never voluntarily to part in. i will never allow them to inject my family with toxic chemicals because it is the governments requirements. from everything i have read on this plan the persons right to choice will slowly and completely taken away. butt this will never be reported in the news....
jmo
vicki
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________________________________

From: "Dana Ullman, MPH"
To: Minutus
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 10:00 AM
Subject: [Minutus] How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
Friends,

The PBS NEWSHOUR has reported below on a report by Kaiser News. This is GREAT news. Here's where health care reform may actually lead to REAL health improvement...

Please note that this is great news for licensed homeopaths, naturopaths, acupuncturists, and chiropractors and their patients.

--Dana Ullman

How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
July 29, 2013 - 4:38am

The Affordable Care Act says that insurance companies "shall not discriminate" against any state-licensed health provider, which could lead to better coverage of chiropractic, homeopathic and naturopathic care. Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images.

Jane Guiltinan said the husbands are usually the stubborn ones.

When her regular patients, often married women, bring their spouses to the Bastyr Center for Natural Health to try her approach to care, the men are often skeptical of the treatment plan -- a mix of herbal remedies, lifestyle changes and sometimes, conventional medicine.

After 31 years of practice, Guiltinan, a naturopathic physician, said it is not uncommon for health providers without the usual nurse or doctor background to confront patients' doubts. "I think it's a matter of education and cultural change," she said.

As for the husbands -- they often come around, Guiltinan said, but only after they see that her treatments solve their problems.

Complementary and alternative medicine -- a term that encompasses meditation, acupuncture, chiropractic care and homeopathic treatment, among other things -- has become increasingly popular. About four in 10 adults (and one in nine children) in the U.S. are using some form of alternative medicine, according to the National Institutes of Health.

And with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, the field could make even more headway in the mainstream health care system. That is, unless the fine print -- in state legislation and insurance plans -- falls short because of unclear language and insufficient oversight.

One clause of the health law in particular -- Section 2706 -- is widely discussed in the alternative medicine community because it requires that insurance companies "shall not discriminate" against any health provider with a state-recognized license. That means a licensed chiropractor treating a patient for back pain, for instance, must be reimbursed the same as medical doctors. In addition, nods to alternative medicine are threaded through other parts of the law in sections on wellness, prevention and research.

"It's time that our health care system takes an integrative approach ... whether conventional or alternative," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who authored the anti-discrimination provision, in an e-mail. "Patients want good outcomes with good value, and complementary and alternative therapies can provide both."

The federal government has, in recent years, tapped providers like Guiltinan, who is also the dean at the Bastyr University College of Naturopathic Medicine, to help advise the federal government and implement legislation that could affect the way they are paid and their disciplines are incorporated into the health care continuum. In 2012, Guiltinan, based in Kenmore, Wash., was appointed to the advisory council of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Proving that alternative medicine has real, measurable benefits has been key to increasing its role in the system, said John Weeks, editor of the Integrator Blog, an online publication for the alternative medicine community. The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, created by the health law, is funding studies on alternative medicine treatments to determine their effectiveness.

Weeks said both lawmakers and the general public will soon have access to that research, including the amount of money saved by integrating other forms of medicine into the current health system.

But the challenges of introducing alternative care don't stop with science.

Because under the health care law each state defines its essential benefits plan -- what is covered by insurance -- somewhat differently, the language concerning alternative medicine has to be very specific in terms of who gets paid and for what kinds of treatment, said Deborah Senn, the former insurance commissioner in Washington and an advocate for alternative medicine coverage.

She pointed out that California excluded coverage for chiropractic care in its essential benefits plan, requiring patients to pay out of pocket for their treatment. Senn thinks the move was most likely an oversight and an unfavorable one for the profession. Four other states -- Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon and Utah -- ruled the same way in the past year.

"That's just an outright violation of the law," she said, referring to the ACA clause.

Colorado and Oregon are in the process of changing that ruling to allow chiropractic care to be covered, according to researchers at Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care.

Some states, like Washington, are ahead of the rest of the country in embracing alternative practitioners. The Bastyr University system, where Guiltinan works, treats 35,000 patients a year with naturopathic medicine. Sixty percent of the patients billed insurance companies for coverage.

Guiltinan said a change in the system is not only a boon for alternative medicine doctors, but helps families of all income levels access care normally limited to out-of-pocket payment. That's why some alternative medicine aficianados like Rohit Kumar are hoping the law will increase the ability of his family -- and the larger community - to obtain this kind of care.

Kumar, a 26-year-old business owner in Los Angeles, said his parents and brothers have always used herbs and certain foods when they get sick, and regularly see a local naturopath and herbalist. He's only used antibiotics once, he says, when he caught dengue fever on a trip to India.

While the Kumar family pays for any treatments they need with cash -- the only payment both alternative providers accept -- they also pay for a high-deductible health plan every month to cover emergencies, like when his brother recently broke his arm falling off a bike.

Paying for a conventional health care plan and maintaining their philosophy of wellness is not cheap.

"We pay a ridiculous amount of money every month," Kumar said of the high-deductible insurance. "And none of it goes toward any type of medicine we believe in."

Even so, he said the family will continue to practice a lifestyle that values wellness achieved without a prescription -- a philosophy that Guiltinan also adopted in her practice.

As a young medical technician in a San Francisco hospital, she decided that the traditional medical system was geared more toward managing diseases and symptoms rather than prevention. Naturopathic medicine, on the other hand, seemed to fit her idea of how a doctor could address the root cause of illness.

"The body has an innate ability for healing, but we get in its way," Guiltinan said. "Health is more than the absence of disease."

Kaiser Health News is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan health policy research and communication organization not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

http://www.netnebraska.org/node/865239

Dana Ullman, MPH, CCH
Homeopathic Educational Services
812 Camelia St.
Berkeley, CA. 94710
510-649-0294
email@homeopathic.com
dullman@igc.org (personal)
www.homeopathic.com (website)
www.Huffingtonpost.com/dana-ullman (blog)

Vicki,

I signed.

Roger
________________________________

To: minutus@yahoogroups.com
From: vickih_fla@yahoo.com
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 06:02:25 -0700
Subject: Re: [Minutus] How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access
well i agree with you on that part. according to what i have read recently, the prez was allowing big companies to get out of participating but the individual citizens will still be forced to start paying out of pocket for it the first of next year. this act contradicts the law and it should have gone back thru congress and voted on for it to be legal. sadly so much happens in washington that is illegal and they always seem to get away with it. i am not for any party, i vote by the issues and the person (sadly it is more and more voting against the worse candidate, it would be nice to have someone run that i would be happy to vote FOR) anyhow, there is a vote in two months in congress that will fund the new health care system or not fund it. if they vote to not fund it then they wont be able to start implementing it until at least when the big businesses are finally forced to participate.
i do not want to pay for a health care system that i will never use, my health care money goes to healthy food and alternative care, and my biggest fear is i will be required to get and have my children get vaccines and other treatments that the government will force as part of this governmental health care. we already know they try to force it already. especially the kids and having it required to get into school unless you jump thru a lot of hoops but they still try to inject my kids AT school anytime so outbreak is on the news...
if anyone wants to they can call their congress reps and tell them not to fund the new health care plan. i have and there is a website you can go to to sign the petition they will be taking to congress when it is time to vote. tell your senator of house rep that if they vote to fund it you will not be voting for them next time and will campaign against them if they run.
that seems to be the only thing that matters to these people. fear of losing their power.
the website is http://www.dontfundobamacare.com/ there is about 100K signatures now and we still have two months left. i am hoping for closer to a million when it is time.
obviously the congress people have big pressure from big pharma to vote to fund it. and sadly big pharma has big $$ to "help" influence the vote but if we can convince these people who are suppose to be voting to represent OUR vote and if they dont they wont be back their to continue to line their pockets with other lobbyist $$. i believe fear of lossing their seat is bigger then fear of losing a campaign contributor. i am probably wrong since if you have enough $$ you can win an election with lies but we now have the power of the internet to try to get the truth out. we just need people to start opening their eyes and speaking up.
jmo
vicki

You don't have to purchase the insurance, but it is a good idea to be covered. Don't be fooled by right-wing websites. You have from October 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 to get coverage. There is a good article on about.com with links to your state's healthcare exchange the price is based on your income and your needs. If you make about $100,000/year and live in California, it will cost you about $400/ month. Compared to an individual plan that costs $1,400 that is a good rate. If you are in the actor's union, their plan will cost you about $150/month but you may have to purchase supplemental insurance.

There are other ways to get good healthcare coverage than the exchanges but it is one of many alternatives if you don't have insurance and need it.

Personally, I prefer a single payer public option. That's the way they do it in Europe and Japan, bit this is a step in that direction, ultimately.

Since alternative medicine generally tends to be a lot more cost effective, it will catch on with hospitals and insurance providers the way it is popular in countries with socialized medicine.

Angie

Sent from my iPad

Where do you get your info that says you don’t have to purchase this insurance?
Are you talking about the 1% tax penalty for not buying any? If you don’t have money,
then even a $50 penalty is expensive. If you are well off, than maybe the penalty is
worth it on principle.
If you are talking about something else, please elaborate.
I agree that single payer is the only way to go. From that point it might be possible to
wage a battle to include holistic healing protocols, especially those not licensed.
However, I think that would be way off in the future and may never fly.
t
From: aim818@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2013 8:02 PM
To: minutus@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Minutus] How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access

You don't have to purchase the insurance, but it is a good idea to be covered. Don't be fooled by right-wing websites. You have from October 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 to get coverage. There is a good article on about.com with links to your state's healthcare exchange the price is based on your income and your needs. If you make about $100,000/year and live in California, it will cost you about $400/ month. Compared to an individual plan that costs $1,400 that is a good rate. If you are in the actor's union, their plan will cost you about $150/month but you may have to purchase supplemental insurance.
There are other ways to get good healthcare coverage than the exchanges but it is one of many alternatives if you don't have insurance and need it.
Personally, I prefer a single payer public option. That's the way they do it in Europe and Japan, bit this is a step in that direction, ultimately.
Since alternative medicine generally tends to be a lot more cost effective, it will catch on with hospitals and insurance providers the way it is popular in countries with socialized medicine.
Angie

Sent from my iPad

The gov't. Won't get after you if you don't purchase but not having insurance is at your own risk.

Sent from my iPad

okay, so this is your suppostion—not fact.
t
From: aim818@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, August 01, 2013 11:14 PM
To: minutus@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Minutus] How The Health Reform Law Will Impact Alternative Medicine Access

The gov't. Won't get after you if you don't purchase but not having insurance is at your own risk.

Sent from my iPad