These new-age practices are only selected if proven safe and effective in peer-reviewed published medical literature and are subject to benefit plan limitations and exclusions. Techniques such as aromatherapy (the use of oils to alter a person’s health or mood), chakra healing (regarding the seven main energy points of the body), color therapy (the use of color and light to balance energy in the body), crystal/gemstone healing (the use of stones as healing tools), cupping (the use of suction to promote blood flow), macrobiotics (a diet that is said to cure diseases), and yoga—among others—are not typically covered because of inadequate evidence of effectiveness in medical literature.
Aetna acknowledged their recognition of alternative treatments but was unable to comment for this story.
However, not everyone is a believer. Dr. Steven Novella, a senior fellow with the James Randi Educational Foundation and clinical neurologist at the Yale School of Medicine, works to share information about “quack alternative medical practices,” appearing on the Dr. Oz Show, Inside Edition, and on various skeptic websites. He says that alternative treatments are promoted through marketing campaigns that claim to rewrite the rules of science and are not based on scientific standards and testing.
“Most of these treatments are not even generally used,” Dr. Novella says. “[Alternative treatment advocates] have made a huge effort to call them mainstream by saying everyone’s using them, and it creates pressure for the insurance companies and for the consumers.”
According to studies, chiropractic care is only utilized by between 6 and 12 percent of the population, though Dr. Novella says the chiropractors want you to believe that number is much higher.
“Alternative medicine is nothing more than the well-described placebo effect, or what we call regression to the mean,” Dr. Novella says. “Think of it this way: you have an illness with good and bad days. What do people do? They seek treatment when their illness is at its worst. Then when they think things get better, they attribute it to whatever they did regardless of whether or not it worked.”
But Jason Nadeau knows firsthand how beneficial the more unusual treatments can be. When he was 18 years old he seriously injured his knee and endured multiple surgeries (one of which lasted more than eight hours). Doctors told him he would never walk without a brace or cane again.
Nadeau had a background in martial arts, so when he went to college—still wearing multiple braces to support nerve damage and a foot drop or difficulty lifting the top part of his foot—he discovered a martial arts group having a meditation energy class. He began searching for new ways to heal his injury until his health insurer unexpectedly stopped paying for the therapy.
“Even though I was using the brace, they didn’t think I was making satisfactory progress,” Nadeau says.
It was then that his regiment of Reiki techniques gave him something in return: a toe twitch.
Reiki is a technique sometimes called palm healing, where practitioners transfer life force healing and relaxation energy through their hands. This treatment originated in Japan in the 1920s and can be found in hospitals and hospices around the world.
“The nerve was completely gone and beyond repair, but two months later, my toes twitched. I even called my parents at 1 a.m. when it happened,” he says. “I continued to make progress and wear the brace less and less, and I formed a healing and meditation group on campus and taught Reiki to other students.”
Today Nadeau is back to his adventurous, active self: he hikes several times a week, snowshoes, and even hiked Mount Katahdin, the largest mountain in Maine—all without a brace. After getting laid off in 2004 from a job in hazardous waste consulting, Nadeau went to massage school and has been a massage therapist ever since. In addition, he teaches Reiki classes, spirituality and meditation groups, and is a part-time teacher at a school for massage therapy.
“People end up changing their lives,” Nadeau says. “I’ve seen people with Multiple Sclerosis and neuropathy in the hand respond to Reiki when they haven’t responded to any other therapies.”
Reiki is also said to help people relax, de-stress, quit drinking, or quit smoking.
“I remember a time when chiropractic wasn’t covered by health insurance, or they only covered a few visits a year. Now companies can cover massage for various reasons,” Nadeau says. “Insurance companies are starting to cover [alternative medicine] because sometimes it’s the most effective thing in a particular case and research is starting to back it up.”
“Many plans will cover acupuncture for certain conditions, and massage therapy is sometimes included by physical therapy,” AHIP’s Pisano says. “Plans cover complimentary and alternative treatment when there’s space for it; when scientific information says it’s safe and effective; and when the research becomes compelling.”
Pisano says some plans and employers may address alternative therapies as part of wellness programs, such as vitamin discounts, massage and yoga, among other things.
“There is no substitute for healthy skepticism,” Dr. Novella says. “At the end of the day, there are thousands of ways to deceive ourselves. If we want to know if something really works, we have to follow a certain scientific protocol; that’s the only way to know if something works or not.”
Nadeau thinks whether alternative treatments work or not will depend on a person’s openness to try new things, patience and a willingness to change.
“There are some people that think ‘I can touch it with my hands, so this has value because I can put my hand on it,’” Nadeau says. “Some people are unable for whatever reason to recognize the value of something they could not see, touch, feel; this isn’t something you can see, this is something you become. Some people can not grasp it.”
This article was originally published by Consumer Insurance Guide
