Medicare Covers Acupuncture—So Why Can’t Licensed Acupuncturists Provide It?
Medicare Covers Acupuncture—So Why Can’t Licensed Acupuncturists Provide It? Nearly five years after Medicare approved acupuncture as a covered, evidence-based treatment for chronic low back pain, access to care remains strikingly uneven across the United States. In many regions, older adults technically have coverage—but little practical ability to receive acupuncture from trained providers. New research presented by faculty from Southern California University of Health Sciences (SCU) reveals just how wide these gaps are—and points to a central policy contradiction at the heart of Medicare’s acupuncture benefit. Extreme Geographic Inequities in Access At the recent Academy of Integrative Health [...]
