Find Out if Your Insurance Covers Chinese Medicine
In the United States, Medicaid and Medicare don't cover acupuncture and other traditional Chinese treatments yet. However, alternative treatments are covered under many supplemental health insurance plans and employee medical benefits plans. These are the places you should check to see whether your acupuncture treatment or Chinese massage session will be covered by your health insurance plan. Follow these steps to find out how.
Instructions
1. Call your supplementary health insurance provider to find out more. Ask the telephone representative if your plan covers, in whole or in part, the cost of visits to a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, acupuncture therapy, and whether Chinese herbal treatments are covered under your prescription drug plan. Get more information from the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Web site (see Resources below).
2. Check with your employer if you receive health benefits at work. This is particularly important if you've been injured at work and are considering acupuncture or another traditional Chinese treatment. Find out, for example, if acupuncture is considered a medicinal alternative to a chiropractor under the terms of your plan.
3. Read the fine print in your health insurance plan to see what it covers and what it doesn't. "Alternative treatments" (or a similar phrase) may or may not be explicitly mentioned under the terms of your plan.
4. File a claim if you received traditional Chinese medical treatment without authorization from your provider. The worst that can happen is that your claim will be rejected.
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