Congressman Maurice Hinchey sent a brief letter to CAOMA encouraging "organized and aggressive support" for HR 818
February 23, 2005
Dear CAOMA members, practitioners and patients,
I am proud once again to author the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act. The bill, which would add acupuncture as a covered benefit under Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program, would provide 49 million Americans with access to acupuncture treatments. More importantly, perhaps, it would act as the federal government's seal of approval for acupuncture and other alternative treatments, leading to broader access in the private health care market. I reintroduced the legislation, HR 818, on February 15 with 25 bipartisan cosponsors, a record-high total.
I want to convey how important the promotion of traditional medicine is to me. My own advocacy for Chinese medicine goes back to 1976 when, as a member of the New York State Assembly, I wrote the successful legislation to license acupuncture professionals. At that time, New York was a pioneer in acupuncture accreditation. When I first came to Congress in 1993, the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act was among the first pieces of legislation I introduced.
I believe that we have the momentum to put this legislation on the congressional agenda in 2005. American consumers have grown disenchanted with the limitations and invasiveness of Western medicine, private insurance companies are waking up to the cost savings and long-term benefits that acupuncture offers to its consumers, and even federally-sponsored research is acknowledging the benefits of Oriental medicine. The acupuncture community must take advantage of these developments.
In order for HR 818 to be successful, I need the organized and aggressive support of the acupuncture community. Acupuncture providers, patients and advocacy groups need to tell their U.S. Representatives that they support the bill. If this issue is important to you, call, write or email your Representative and ask for his or her co-sponsorship of my legislation. If your Representative has already cosponsored the bill, thank him or her for doing so.
As I said, these issues are very important to me and I look forward to working with you to make acupuncture care available to all Americans.