July 2006

Minnesota introduces CAM bill

Minnesota Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, introduced a bill to the House this session to urge lawmakers to investigate complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and possibly allow it to be covered by the state’s publicly funded insurance program.

Many insurance companies do not fund CAM treatments, but Abeler, a chiropractor, believes that if state-funded insurance programs were to cover the less-invasive therapies, the state could save 10 to 20 percent on healthcare.

Critics of Abeler’s bill say patients would simply add CAM therapies to their existing treatments instead of substituting one for the other, potentially costing the state even more money. However, Abeler says with the current system, most patients only try CAM after exhausting Western medical resources and he says they could potentially solve their medical problems more quickly trying CAM first thus, saving the state money.

Source: NewsTarget.com, www.newstarget.com

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