Alternative therapy has come of age in the new century and become more than just a viable solution to health problems but a sought after preventative health solution. Also known as CAM or Complementary and Alternative medicine, alternative therapies are called ‘alternative’ as opposed to ‘traditional’ services that one has received in Western medicine. These therapies include:
- biologic or herbal therapies
- prayer and spiritual healing
In January, 2005, UCLA released a study that stated that more than 33% of American women used some form of alternative therapy in 2004. Most people use alternative therapies or treatments in addition to or combination with traditional medicine in order to prevent and treat more common ailments. The industry considers ‘alternative therapy’ to be when a patient uses one of these therapies to replace conventional medicine. When these therapies are used in combination with traditional medicine, they are called ‘complementary therapy’.
It is now standard for insurance companies to offer coverage for a wide variety of alternative therapies. It is well known that these practices can prevent certain health problems and therefore reduce the cost of health care for the provider and the patient. The most typically offered include:
• massage
• acupuncture
Usually group employer health plans take advantage of these provisos. The next tier of common alternative therapies included in coverage include:
• nutrition
• biofeedback
• naturopathy
• homeopathy
• acupressure
• yoga
The standard proviso for alternative therapies is a discount offered by the insurance providers as opposed to being fully covered. You pay the bill with no reimbursement but receive a discount thanks to your affiliation with the provider.
$33 billion per year is spent on complementary and alternative medicine every year in America, which makes it the most rapidly growing division of the health care business. However, even with all these factors of proof in its favor, some companies are still reluctant to include it in their plans.
