Acupuncture as an Essential Health Benefit - Public Input!

Essential Health Benefits:  In 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, a health insurance reform law intended to ensure access to quality and affordable health insurance for all Americans. Starting in 2014, most health plans will be required to offer a comprehensive package of items and services to patients, known as "essential health benefits"(EHB). Under the new law, EHB must cover certain specific services including emergency services, maternity and newborn care, prescription drugs as well as preventive and wellness services, among others.The American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AAAOM) strongly supports designating acupuncture as an EHB.

Jing, translated as Essence, a very precious substance, should be guarded and not wasted.  There is prenatal, postnatal and kidney jing essence.  The kidney organs store jing, which determines one's vitality, resistance to disease, and longevity.  Jing is also concentrated in the brain, ova, semen, and bone marrow.  One is born with "congenital" jing or prenatal jing, which influences inspanidual constitution and development; the amount of prenatal jing one receives corresponds to the health and consitution of the parents. This jing is irreplaceable and meant to serve one throughout life; once used up, life ceases.  

The Heart is an amazing organ.  In Chinese Medicine, it is considered to be the most important of all the internal organs, sometimes described as the “ruler” or “monarch” of the internal organs.  The “Simple Questions” in chapter 8 says: “The Heart is like the Monarch and it governs the Mind…”  The Heart rules all the organs and is the residence of the mind. 

According to Chinese medical theory, the symptoms and signs that indicate a Western diagnosis of allergies relate to imbalances in the meridian and Organ systems of the body. These imbalances may stem from a variety of causes including stress, poor diet, consitutional weakness, pollutants and environmental toxins.

Over time, if imbalances remain within the body, they will affect the funciton of the Organ Systems. Some of these Organ Systems are involved in the production of Wei Qi (pronounced "way chee"). According to the theories of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, it is important to have the correct quality and quantity of Wei Qi circulating around the body in order to stay health.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has addressed the link between the body, spirit and mind for more than 2000 years. TCM does not view people as a collection of segmented parts to be treated independently. Instead, our belief is that illness affects both the mind and body; there is no separation between the two.  Excessive and/or prolonged emotions contribute to the excess or deficiency of yin and yang that disrupts the flow of qi or energy through the body, thereby resulting in mental illness and accompanying symptoms.

Chinese Medicine does not recognize any mental disorder as one particular syndrome. Instead, it aims to treat the specific symptoms that are unique to each individual using a variety of techniques such as acupuncture, herbal medicine, bodywork, lifestyle/dietary recommendations and energetic exercises to restore imbalances found in the body.

What diseases and conditions does Acupuncture treat?  Acupuncture is one of the most effective methods of relieving pain. Like all systems of medicine acupuncture has treatments for almost all illnesses. The list given below is not exhaustive but merely indicative of the range of diseases in which acupuncture is used with good results.