acupuncture

The Hinchey bill, HR 818, would have Medicare pay for certain qualifying acupuncture services. Do you think it's a step in the right direction? As it is right now, most acupuncture services are like spa treatments for the upper socioeconomic strata. A few beneficent acupuncturists run low-overhead community clinics with semi-private treatment areas and a low, sliding-scale fee structure, not requiring proof of income but empowering patients to decide what they can afford, seeing a lot of working-class patients, and at an average of $20 per visit, patients can afford to come enough times for slow but sure acupuncture to resolve stubborn problems. I applaud this kind of effort, and hope it catches on everywhere. We really need a lot more community with each other, people. But Medicare reimbursement of acupuncture sounds like a great idea, with private insurance sure to follow.