Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
Acupuncture May Be Covered By Medicare in the Near Future
If your patients suffer from lower back pain, you may be able to utilize acupuncture and get paid for it. Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed acupuncture be covered under Medicare for beneficiaries with chronic back pain, indicates an agency release. The acupuncture proposal, which would specifically cover Medicare patients in National Institutes of Health (NIH) clinical trials and involved in CMS-approved research, aims to offer alternative options to opioid use for pain, suggests the release. “Today’s proposal represents the Trump Administration’s commitment to providing Americans with access to a wide array of options to support their health,” says Alex Azar, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary. “Defeating our country’s epidemic of opioid addiction requires identifying all possible ways to treat the very real problem of chronic pain, and this proposal would provide patients with new options while expanding our scientific understanding of alternative approaches to pain.” Read CMS’s release on the acupuncture proposal at www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-proposes-cover-acupuncture-chronic-low-back-pain-medicare-beneficiaries-enrolled-approved.
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
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