As we have reported previously, we knew last year that President Obama and Congress were determined to legislate a federal “Comparative Effectiveness Review” process for medical procedures and treatments. This part of “health reform” was going to happen whether or not the larger bill passed.
Mindful of this, ANH-USA went to work trying to change the language about Comparative Effectiveness Research in the Senate bill. Our allies in Congress succeeded in inserting language requiring that an integrative practitioner be included on both the CER Board and on the Board’s Advisory Panel. This is the first time that integrative medicine has ever been mentioned, much less included in a federal health program.
If the House had been able to amend the Senate bill, you can be sure that certain powerful members of the House would have demanded the removal of this key language. But as you know, the House had to pass the Senate bill without modification. And subsequent “fixes” included in the reconciliation bill were limited to items directly affecting the federal budget. Consequently, our language emerged in the final legislation without any changes. For this at least we can be grateful.
26 comments
Comments are closed.
This truly was a great victory for Integrative Medicine! We made our voices heard and it was not in vain!
I have used Integrative practioners for many years. Please KEEP these practioners in this healthcare bill. I have also used Dr Whitaker’s vitamins. I have used lots of help from these people. So, please keep these integrative practioners. I havn’t had a cold or the flu in YEARS, with these people!!!!!! Respectfully, Mart Gebel. Thank you and may God bless you.
Thank you for your care, your foresight and your effectiveness. Most of us barely have the time to read your alerts, let alone respond accurately. If you had not set it all up to be so straight forward and quick for our mass participation, these little giant steps would not happen. I did not even know you esisted until your alert appeared in my inbox a few weeks ago and I’ve no idea how it got past my filters to my inbox; but I’m glad it did. Steve Warriner
Well, whoop-de-do! The rest of the bill is poison for this country. Who cares if “we” won this one little point?
Greetings,
I don’t know how we got on your email list but we appreciate and welcome your support,. as well as the good work you are doing.
We have been fighting the good fight for some 31 years starting in Ohio against the American Dietetic Associationi.
We support the Alternative, Functional, Complementary and Integrative health care practitioners through our education, credentiallng and private license program especially in the field of nutrition as it applies to health and life enhancement, for some 31 years.
Please tell us about the Free Speech Science Bill.
I have a blog “gagoff” initials for “Grievances Against the Government Offensive..” I am asking for a “Regress for these Grievances” which hasn’t been done in 232 years. I plan to submit those grievances to the federal government every three to four months.. We definitely are in line for some serious changes.
James R. Johnston PhD
Director
American Health Science University’s CN Certified Nutritiionist trademark is registered with the U.S. Patent office and we have met more naitonal and state standards than any other group in our field.
Have you seen this? Microchipping included in Healthcare Bill?
http://www.dailypaul.com/node/105079
and this? Coverage under Obamacare will require an implantable microchip?
http://current.com/items/90842279_coverage-under-obamacare-will-req
and this? Health Care Reform Fiasco: http://healingmindn.livejournal.com/19431.html
The reform bill works like a prescription drug: The risks outweight the benefits.
Fail
Suggest that you check out: http://factcheck.org/2010/04/more-malarkey-about-health-care/ to assuage your fears regarding implantation of microchips & religeous exemptions.
The FDA will be revamped when enough people direct their anger to require reform.
Thanks for some good news.
I DOUBT THAT INTEGRATIVE HEALTHCARE WILL BE ALLOWED TO FUNCTION FREELY AS LONG AS THE CORRUPT CULTURE IN THE FDA CONTINUES TO EXIST. ANYTHING THAT COMPETES WITH THE PHARMACEUTICAL CARTEL WILL BE DEMONIZED AND CRIMINALIZED BY THE ENFORCEMENT ARM OF BIG PHARMA WHICH IS WHAT THE FDA IS. WHAT AN INCESTUOUS RELATIONSHIP. MILLIONS HAVE SUFFERED AND DIED PREMATURELY BECAUSE OF IT.
This is one small step leading to many bigger ones. Glad to hear of this news! Thanks.
Dear ANH-USA,
I do not know the author of this brief statement, but although seemingly well intentioned, it does not take into account that the Integrative Medicine representative elected, appointed, or otherwise chosen may possible reflect views held pretty much by conventional medicine. I have experienced this not too uncommon phenomenon when recently judged by my State medical board who enlisted a supposed “Integrative Medicine specialist” from the local medcial school to procecute their case against me for use of an Integrative Medicine approach about which she knew little or nothing except her obviously biased and allopatic opinion. So, do not get too excited about much of what the new HC bill offers us common folk. It would be something to behold if all the Congress people, Senators, the President, his family and all the government staff were subjegated to the same policy. The program would then truly get a proper review and justification.
This is a step in the right direction yet we still have a long way to go and I really do pray we “all” can be a strong unified voice to affect more change as we go on this year and the years to follow!
Thanks for keeping us all informed it has been a blessing for me since I came on board to this organization!!
The Question IS Whom will be picked for these positions… In all likelyhood it will be Big Pharma’s so called Experts on the subject… Just like always… Bend Over and Take it…
Well, good on us! Congratulations on having brought to the table a major means to realistically reduce the cost of this monster. Now let’s see what can be done to move the 111 or so new agencies to establish policies incorporating integrative health care’s benefits.
I think, if we can legitimately make the case that Bomb’R’Care was set up as a protection racket for the traditional, pharmaceutical grade medical system we can protect our right to make personal, responsible, effectual health decisions. I hope the numbers of Americans needed to accomplish it can be generated. They must all show their faces and names as being allied with this as being the only real health “right” that exists. Everybody desiring to be and stay healthy must show up to say this is the change we want in real “health reform”.
Unless all make their voices heard we could be in for decades of stagnation, deceit, injury and degradent care until the status quo topples of its own inherent lack of integrity.
After tirelessly fighting to kill the bill, you now want to take credit for parts of it. I told you hypocrites to stop contacting me.
I’ll say it again. Stop contacting me.
What is included in the meaning of the term “integrative medicine”?
This is too unclear to all americans in this country. I do know how it works in Europe. If you can’t afford a private doctor on your own————————— you are screwed. That I do know.
Does anyone know how the bill will effect various healing practices such as massage therapy, naturopathy, homeopathy, reflexology and the myriad of others? As a chiropractor I have been especially concerned about my being able to continue to have a partial cash practice. Will pay for service be illegal for the above healing professions and for medicine and chiropractic?
this is comforting. even though they used hot sauce instead of Vaseline, at least they reduced the violation to the size of a base ball bat. i’m not looking forward to more news from Washington until November.
This bill has to be repealed, appealed, reversed. I hope AHS – usa will work with state efforts to see that this is accomplished.
Thanks–this is one change I was completely unaware of, and it’s an important component of health care in my opinion!!
Congratulations! There are a great many very qualified practitioners of integrative medicine, and their participation in the CER Board has great potential for not only reducing unnecessary procedures and medicines and their huge costs, but for actually getting help to those who need it, in the way they want it. I have had many clients in my CranioSacral Therapy practice who have found a way forward in their healing after many difficulties in the mainstream medical system because they were able to access CST. This should not be so difficult for people seeking to get healthy. Of course, qualifications should be verified for the potential participants representing integrative medicine, and standards for this need to be set by those who can objectively and knowledgeably assess skills.
Thank you.
One small change at a time. Eventually this type of Health care will become mainstream as more and more people realize that what we have now is not real medicine, just a bandaid that causes more illness down the road. It is evident in the increase in kidney and liver damage prevalent in our society caused by long term use of medications taken instead of losing weight and living a healthy lifestyle.
My belief is if we are thankful and grateful for this small change, it will open the door to many others.
I continue to be a bit shaky about this bill, and I do hope there will be some positive improvements in the near future. We need to get control of Monsanto, the FDA, and the USDA, to really make a difference. This aside from BIG PHARMA, who also needs some good positive controls, like dissolving those companies all together.
No one else has commented on the total unconstitutionality of this “Healthcare” legislation, so I will. I’d like to point out that our ability to defend DSHEA is directly dependent on our ability to safeguard our own sovereignty. How is ANH-US doing this by seeking to legitimize a totally unconstitutional piece of legislation? Why is ANH-US totally ignoring the FDA’s Trilateral Cooperation Charter via which FDA has already created the framework for one harmonized set of Food and Drug regs for Canada, US and Mexico as if an NAU Dictatorship already existed? Why is ANH-US totally ignoring the immense fiscal harm this legislation threatens to cause within our already economically devastated country? If combined with Amnesty for illegal aliens, or even just by itself- this legislation threatens to sink us as a nation and usher us into the NAU. Why isn’t ANH-US telling people about Van Irion’s class action lawsuit against this outrageous legislation http://www.ObamacareClassAction.com Should we trust ANH-US despite Hunter Lewis having been a Trustee of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund???
If you are going to portray yourself as a health freedom organization then at least have enough intelligence to understand the big picture of health freedom that transcends the day to day skirmishes threatening the dietary supplement industry. And for heaven’s sake, don’t proclaim that you made a dragon better by trimming one of its toenails.
Obamacare is the antithesis of health freedom. It is the opposite of people taking responsibility for their own health. The front end of this campaign against the people is the mind drugs being pushed on an entire generation of children. It is Big Pharma profits ad nauseum with no true benefit to the public health. Your point is so meaningless in the context of what is happening that if you were a legitimate health freedom organization you would be embarrassed to mention it. You should have an all out campaign to defeat Obamacare implementation at every step.
Byron Richards
Author: Fight for Your Health: Exposing the FDA’s Betrayal of America