An Unjust Situation: Why Can't Our Patients Receive Federal Extended Medical Coverage for their Acupuncture Treatments in BC?
An Unjust Situation:
Why Can't Our Patients Receive Federal Extended Medical
Coverage for their
Acupuncture Treatments?
In the
spirit of helping our helping
profession, I would like to update you and elicit your support
in the campaign I
launched last year (2018), aiming to address the current lack of
medical
insurance coverage for federal employees wishing to receive
treatments from
registered acupuncturists in BC. As the correspondence below
illustrates, the present
situation reflects an unfair bias against registered
acupuncturists – whose
services are not covered under extended health plans (SunLife of
Canada), while
acupuncture provided by certain other professions (i.e. not
acupuncturists) is
covered. I would like to thank ATCMA
President Jason
Tutt and editor Cheryl Coull, RAc, for
their assistance and encouragement in my search for clarity in
this important
matter.
Please read my letter to Randall Garrison, my MP in Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke. The same letter was sent to HH Minister of Health. It is my hope that you will be inspired to join me in my effort to educate our government and the public about the many challenges we face in performing our important work in good faith.
Federal Campain:Letter to the Minister of Health and all MPs in my riding: Esquimalt-Sanich-Sook below, all same format:
Katrine B. Hegillman Dr. TCM, BSc
888 Dunsmuir Road
Esquimalt, BC Victoria BC V9A 5B7
August 15th, 2018
Victoria, BC
To: Mr. Randall
C. Garrison, M.P. House of Commons, Canada
Re:
Acupuncture Insurance for Canadian Federal Government Employees
My name is Katrine Hegillman and I have
been a practicing Doctor of TCM for nearly 20 years. I received my doctorate
from the International College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Vancouver and
fulfilled my practicum requirements at the AnHui Hospital, He Fei, PRC. I have subsequently
received teachings from well-regarded Practitioners worldwide, countless hours
of professional development training in acupuncture and a range of related complementary
medical practices.
This letter regards a matter of long-standing concern among
my many patients and colleagues in the acupuncture profession.
Several of my patients employed by the BC Provincial
Government receive at least partial insurance coverage for my services through provincial
extended medical plans, other patients that receive coverage are on private
plans. Meanwhile, however, employees of the federal government (with federal
Sun Life insurance plans) are not eligible for any coverage for my services.
(Ref 7)
The existing policy states that acupuncture treatments will
receive coverage only if they are performed by a medical doctor, not by a Doctor
of TCM or a Registered Acupuncturist (R.Ac.), regulated by the CTCMA (College
of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of British
Columbia).
I contacted Sun Life and was informed it is not their policy
to exclude CTCMA registrants; this policy has been put in place by the federal government
for its recipients of extended health coverage.
I am surprised and dismayed to hear that the outdated
policies we acupuncturists have been contending with are coming from the
federal government. It turns out federal government acknowledgement of our
status lags behind the provinces of BC, Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and Quebec,
where acupuncture is recognized and regulated.
I live and work in Esquimalt near the Canadian forces naval base
and offices of the federal government, yet this current policy prevents me from
fully serving my community and earning a living on equal footing with other
healthcare practitioners.
More broadly, this policy discriminates against a cohort of practitioner’s
province-wide who have dedicated themselves to years of acupuncture study in
accredited schools at great cost; who have established businesses in a
professional manner, paid their fees, insurance premiums, taxes and student
loans; and who have abide by the strict regulations of their governing body,
the CTCMA.
Of much greater concern, however, is the impact of this
policy on the general public, who may be misled into believing that physicians,
physiotherapists, nurses, and midwives, after a minimal few hours of training
in acupuncture, are more qualified to perform acupuncture than those who have
completed the rigorous and comprehensive programs developed by accredited institutions. As my references below show, the
above-mentioned practitioners of western-style medicine receive an average of
200 hours of training in acupuncture, (ref2), while a Doctor of TCM receives
approximately 4,000 hours of training.
Acupuncture is studied in depth by doctors of TCM, TCMP’s, and
Registered Acupuncturists, and the title “Acupuncturist” has been reserved for
our use. However, the term “acupuncture” is not limited to use by acupuncturists,
and this causes considerable confusion to patients and is patently unfair to
acupuncturists. Acupuncture, when performed by a physiotherapist or any other
profession should be, more accurately called “dry needling,” because it does
not follow principles of acupuncture according to the training acupuncturists
must receive in order to practice.
We struggle to offer our patients treatment because our
“acupuncture” is not covered by insurance, while the “acupuncture” that has
been integrated into the scope of practice for physiotherapists, medical
doctors, naturopathic doctors, nurses and midwives is covered.
Acupuncture has developed over centuries and around the
world as part of a complex and coherent system of medicine – one that both independently,
and in conjunction with modern western medicine, addresses many diseases and
disorders endemic in our western society. (Notably, for example, in the midst
of the current opioid crisis, acupuncture stands out for its treatment of
chronic pain). Practitioners who use the tools of acupuncture without any
understanding of acupuncture theory and without thorough and appropriate
training in its methods, run the risk of harming patients. Also, in the process
of harming patients, or at the very least, by providing what is too often ineffective
treatment, they are damaging acupuncture's reputation.
In addition to being effective medicine, acupuncture is cost
effective, which is also a very good reason why it should be included among
patients' insurance options: acupuncture treatments are relatively inexpensive;
they reduce the need for far more expensive therapies, medications, hospital
visits, and surgical interventions. (Please see references supporting this,
below, from WHO, NIH USA, and independent researchers).
In modern hospitals worldwide, it is increasingly common to
find acupuncturists working alongside physicians (ref 6). Insurance coverage
for acupuncture treatment is available to patients in a growing number of
jurisdictions nationally and internationally. British Columbia, however, is falling
farther behind in terms of being able to provide the best possible, least
invasive, and most affordable care for its citizens.
I am
asking you as my Member of Parliament for help and guidance in addressing the absence
of acupuncture insurance coverage for federal government employees, and addressing
the general lack of recognition of my profession receives in BC and Canada (one
that has led to higher coverage for Acupuncture (dry needling) provided by professionals
with less acupuncture training than Members of CTCMA of BC).
I am grateful for your urgent attention to this matter: many
patients and practitioners have been waiting a long time.
Sincerely Yours
Dr. Katrine B. Hegillman
References
Coverage
Details
|
|
Deductible
|
|
Percentage
covered
|
|
Limits
|
|
Important
|
Acupuncture
treatments are considered eligible expenses when performed by a doctor.
Provincial plan coverage may affect your benefits for this expense.
|
Dr. Katrine B. Hegillman | Dr. TCM
Oriri Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Centre LTD
888
Dunsmuir Road | Esq. V9A5B7
📞 250-886-8863 🖨 778.432.4998
Bellow my next letter to the involved party (edited by Cheryl Coull, big thanks!)
Chris
Aylward
National
President
Public
Service Alliance of Canada
233 Guilmour
Street
Ottawa, ON
K2P 0P1
July 17,
2019
Dear Mr.
Aylward:
My name is
Katrine B. Hegillman, Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, registered in BC under
the jurisdiction of the CTCMA of BC. I am writing you now regarding the lack of
acupuncture coverage under Sun Life’s extended health care plan for federal
employees.
Mr. Tutt R.Ac. shared with me your letter (dated
April 18th, 2019) regarding acupuncture coverage for your members as
provided by an RAc., TCM.P., and Dr. of TCM.
I have been actively engaged in resolving the
situation, extant since 2012, in which federal employees receive no coverage
for acupuncture provided by Registered Practitioners of Traditional Chinese
Medicine and Acupuncturists. As a board member of the ATCMA in 2002 and
2010-2012, I have been deeply involved in this and related issues for nearly
two decades, and have attached, for your records, recent pertinent correspondence
with the Minister of Health and my local Member of Parliament.
Our members, regulated by the College of
Traditional Chinese Medicine, and having dedicated years of full-time education
to traditional and modern applications of acupuncture, are without question are
most highly trained, skilled, and effective in the application of acupuncture.
Sun Life, however, covers acupuncture only when
provided by medical doctors and physiotherapists, but not when provided by CTCMA
registrants. As a member of a registered medical profession, the logic of this
is lost on me. And, as the attached documentation shows, acupuncture delivered
by trained acupuncturists is safer, less painful, and more effective than
needling techniques delivered by professions that perform it sporadically or as
an adjunct to other treatments.
I live and work in Esquimalt, B.C where many of
my patients and potential patients are employed by the navy and the federal
government in general, with extended health plans administered by Sun Life. That
my services are not appropriately covered by this discriminatory policy affects
my livelihood and the wellbeing of my young family, but it affects none more so
than the members of the Public Service Alliance who deserve the best possible
care.
The following scenario is one that I have faced
many times with patients in my community.
Over time, I have seen several members of the
submarine crew, all of whom have been forced to leave my care, despite the
benefits they felt, due to a lack of insurance coverage for their treatments (I
am happy to provide clinical records). The patient I describe here injured his
back while lifting a heavy plank on the job and came to my clinic in acute pain
and with severe muscle spasms, unable to work. After just two sessions with
much improvement and almost ready to return to his job, he was unable to pay
from his own pocket more treatments from me. As his injury had not completely
healed, the inflammation returned. Acute pain became chronic pain, and the
patient was forced to go on disability leave for a full year. His case went to
the WCB. With a reduced income, his hardship is now both physical and financial,
as he is the sole breadwinner for his family. If he had coverage for
acupuncture provided by a registered acupuncturist, there is every indication
he would have returned to work within 3-6 weeks, and continued to improve.
As you can see from the above example, your
members can benefit in many ways from acupuncture sessions provided by a
qualified practitioner: greater health overall, faster recovery from
work-related injuries, and reduced financial stress. Meanwhile, the employer
(and government) benefit from a reduction in unnecessary expenditures over the
long term.
I hope we
can work together to create a policy that is beneficial to everyone concerned.
Sincerely,
Dr. Katrine
B. Hegillman
The Association: ATCMA informed me they are staying in touch with the PSAC and we are all hopeful their " bargaining process choices" will include our profession and this prejudice will be favorably solved soon.
In Solidarity!