Integrative Health Care Study

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Affordable health care is a huge problem facing the nation today. Health care should not be addressed as a privilege, but as a right. The United States Department of Health and Human Services has made it its mission to enhance and protect the health and well-being of all Americans. They provide effective health and human services while also making advancements in medicines, public health and social services. While these are great things for the organization to be doing, there should be some reform to the system of The U.S. Department of Health and Human services that ensures that all people, nationally, are provided with the affordable health care that they deserve. Perhaps if health care wasn 't so expensive to provide, the nation would be …show more content…
Chronic pain affects nearly 116 million American adults at an estimated cost of nearly $635 billion annually. 409 participants initially enrolled in the study and most participants were white females with an average age of 49 and a reported average of about 8 years of chronic pain. 52% percent of the participants reported symptoms consistent with depression as well. After 24 weeks of integrative treatments, specifically acupuncture and massage, there was a significant decrease in pain severity (-23%) and pain interference with daily life (-28%). This study proves that integrative methods are effective in treating certain medical issues. However, it is not just effectiveness that matters; affordability is the main purpose of introducing complementary and alternative medicines. In 1996, the Washington State Legislature ordered that health care insurers cover "every category of provider" that legally provides a medical service. This allows patients to choose the type of medical care that they desire and it will be covered by their insurance as long as they seek the medical attention from a licensed professional. This would include the coverage of complementary and alternative medicine providers. An analysis of data was conducted that compares the financial effects of CAM users and nonusers among the four largest insurance companies, in the state of Washington, over the first decade of this law. This study provides some insight about the effects on insurance savings for people who used CAM treatments instead of modern medicines only. CAM users had lower average expenditures than nonusers at $3,800 versus $4,200 annually. Patients who saw a CAM provider, such as an acupuncturist or a massage therapist, through their insurance benefits had lower inpatient expenditures pried at $800 versus $1,200 for patients not using CAM providers. Overall,

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