Safe,Effective, Non-addictive and Under Utilized. Barriers to acupuncture in an opioid crisis

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1 Safe,Effective, Non-addictive and Under Utilized Barriers to acupuncture in an opioid crisis

2 Non-pharmacologic therapy and non-opioid pharmacologic therapy are preferred for chronic pain. In order to achieve this goal, public and private payer policies must be fundamentally altered and aligned to support payment for nonpharmacologic treatments and multimodal care. -American Medical Association (AMA)

3 Physicians are often backed into a corner when dealing with a patient s pain... We need to create better access to CAM therapies. By reducing the cost burden on the patient, these therapies become far more accessible. Abbasi J. As Opioid Epidemic Rages, Complementary Health Approaches to Pain Gain Traction. JAMA. 2016;316(22): doi: /jama

4 Many insurers don t adequately cover or reimburse for non-pharmacologic therapies such as acupuncture, biofeedback, relaxation, and other interactive, multimodal therapies. Payer policies both public and private would need to be fundamentally changed to support this recommendation. -Trust for America s Health (TFAH)

5 We urge America s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) to take proactive steps to encourage your members to review their payment and coverage policies and revise them, as necessary and appropriate, to encourage healthcare providers to prioritize non-opioid pain management options over opioid prescriptions for the treatment of chronic, non-cancer pain. When patients seek treatment for any of the myriad conditions that cause chronic pain, doctors should be encouraged to explore and prescribe effective non-opioid alternatives, ranging from non-opioid medications (such as NSAIDs) to physical therapy, acupuncture, massage, and chiropractic care. Pam Bondi and 36 other state attorney generals 9/18/17 letter to AHIP

6 At a bare minimum, recommendations that payers provide universal coverage for the five types of nonpharmacologic care mentioned in the [Department of Defense/Veteran s Administration] pain guideline (physical manipulation, massage, acupuncture, biofeedback, and yoga) should be issued. -American Academy of Pain Management (AAPM)

7 While it is true that many non-pharmacologic modalities are effective for the treatment/control of chronic pain, the [draft] Guidelines fail to address the fact that many patients do not have access to these modalities, due to lack of insurance coverage or low availability. -Medical Board of California (MBC)

8 We believe that patients should have both pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches available and reimbursed... for the management of their chronic pain. -American Pain Society (APS)

9 Facilitate reimbursement for comprehensive pain management. Public and private payers should develop reimbursement models that support evidence-based and cost-effective comprehensive pain management encompassing both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment modalities. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Pain management and the opioid epidemic: Balancing societal and individual bene ts and risks of prescription opioid use. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi:

10 All else being equal, providers will often favor those treatment options that are most likely to be compensated, either by the government, an insurance provider, or a patient paying out-of-pocket. Insurance companies thus are in a position to make a very positive impact in the way that providers treat patients with chronic pain. Thus incentivizing opioid alternatives promotes evidence-based techniques that are more effective at mitigating this type of pain, and, over the long-run, more cost-efficient. Thus, adopting such policies benefit patients, society, and insurers alike. Pam Bondi and 36 other state attorney generals 9/18/17 letter to AHIP