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Any service that is on track to consume 40 percent of the gross national product of the world’s largest economy by the year 2050 cannot be ignored and that service is US healthcare. The reason that IHPC encouraged House of Representative members Mike Coffman (R-CO) and Jared Polis (D-CO) to form the bipartisan Congressional Integrative Health and Wellness Caucus was explicitly to ensure that Integrative Health has an authoritative voice at the table with people making decisions about policy, legislation and regulations. Both Members Coffman and Polis also belong to the congressional Problem Solvers Caucus working to craft bipartisan healthcare solutions. They know that when it comes to costly, chronic diseases, and crises like the opioid epidemic, integrative health approaches can offer improved outcomes with lower costs. In fact, a just released study today in JAMAshows there is no time to wait. The study revealed sad and striking numbers, “all deaths attributable to opioids increased 292% (from 0.4% to 1.5%) between 2001 and 2016, resulting in approximately 1.68 million person-years of life lost in 2016 alone.” Sadly, 20% of those deaths were adults age 24-35, a demographic that should be celebrating the future, not losing their lives to drug overdoses. While there is high skepticism and often cynicism as to what Congress can accomplish in the current highly partisan and polarized environment, there are committed bi-partisan Members working to make a difference. What Congress does matters to more Americans than you might think! Congressional action has direct impact on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Marketplace, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, the Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense health services. Millions of Americans are impacted by these services, and the private insurer and health services market usually follow their lead. The Capitol Hill Caucus briefing on March 15, focused on integrative pain care and the opioid crisis, generated significant interest and requests for education and information from more than 30 Congressional offices (thank you to IHPC member AANP who included Caucus info in their Lobby Day). IHPC has continued to meet with legislators and their staff. On April 9, along with Board Member and AIPM Partner for Health Bob Twillman, PhD and interim Executive Director Susan Haeger, I met with both new Members and many interested in joining the Caucus. The whirlwind day across multiple buildings and offices confirmed high enthusiasm and interest in transforming healthcare to focus on prevention, wellness and well-being for health creation. There is a sea change in the landscape for health and healthcare. Large systems of care are embracing integrative health and turning attention to how communities and states can promote health and wellness, as well as encourage more attention to disease prevention. In pain care and especially in the opioid crisis – non-pharmacological and integrative approaches are being sought out. The time is now for communicating with, connecting and catalyzing legislators to champion this shift so that Integrative Health and Wellness can take center stage in health and healthcare in America. If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to enlist your elected officials to join the caucus. Constituent phone calls are most effective. Don’t hesitate! Click here for more information to make your call. In Good Health, Sincerely, Leonard A. Wisneski, MD Chair, Integrative Health Policy Consortium Video Highlights from Caucus Briefing on Capitol Hill In March, the inaugural Health and Wellness Caucus took place in Washington DC. The bipartisan efforts of Reps. Jared Polis (D) and Mike Coffman (R) with the support of IHPC, were met with great success. We’ve collected the various presentations from the caucus speakers. Click on the image to the right to access all the videos. Click on the titles below to listen to the highlighted speakers:   1.  Introduction by Len Wisneski, MD, IHPC Board of Directors Chair 2.  Opening Remarks from Caucus Co-Chairs Reps. Jared Polis (D) and Mike Coffman (R) 3.  Ben Kligler, MD, MPH presents a segment on integrative practices within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).   CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES TO JOIN THE CAUSE New Study: Active Integrative Protocols for Pain Management In this new study, researchers show that when patients are educated in integrative-care solutions, they are most likely to elect an active complementary pain management program. Study provided by our partners at Today’s Practitioner.   Read More Here  

IHPC has responded to an RFI from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, on the issue of the future of the CMS Innovation Center, known as CMMI

IHPC strongly endorses the bi-partisan formation of this important education and community learning resource for members of Congress as non-pharmacologic treatment options for pain management and addressing opioid-driven addiction become central to US health care and public policy.

IHPCs joins integrative health partner organizations to establish the Moving Beyond Medications campaign to emphasize the value of non-pharmacologic treatments for pain and opioid addiction. This position has been emphasized itself by the actions of 37 state attorneys general urging insurance payers to reimburse these treatment options. See the NAAG letter here.

Seasoned Advocacy Leader, Susan Haeger, Appointed Interim ED — After four years leading significant growth of IHPC, Executive Director Alyssa Wostrel has stepped down to focus on new professional opportunities. Veteran policy and advocacy leader, and IHPC board member, Susan Haeger, has taken the reins as interim Executive Director of IHPC.

In this short video, IHPC Executive Director Alyssa Wostrel speaks to the policy imperatives IHPC has pursued in support of Section 2706, the non-discrimination provisions of the ACA. Read More

IHPC submits “Comments on proposed 2016 Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain” to Centers for Disease Control. Letter available here. Read More

CAM professions are too often defined politically — by treatment modalities — rather than by full professional scopes, preventing licenses being honored in insurance coverage. Read More

IHPC and AIHM encourage the new NAM to embed integrative practitioners into its important initiatives such as Healthy America, and Grand Challenges in Health and Medicine. Read More

In August, IHPC’s Alyssa Wostrel introduced the real-world experience and benefits of integrative pain care to policy and legislative leaders of several of the nation’s primary pain advocacy organizations Read More

In addition to their important leadership experience in integrative health, Elizabeth Goldblatt and Martha Menard have contributed 20 years of volunteerism to ACCAHC. Read More

AANP is partnering with The Foundation for Care Management (FCM) to accredit naturopathic education programs for MDs, NPs, PAs, dietitians and others in the health care team. Read More

The Oregon Association for Naturopathic Physicians is preparing for its 20th Annual Conference in Portland in December and is accepting abstracts until June 30. Read More

IHPC congratulates John for his 8+ years of innovative leadership as ACCAHC’s Executive Director. He led many important initiatives with colleagues during this seminal time. Read More

IHPC is one of 38 organizations providing live testimony to an FDA review panel as part of its two-day hearings evaluating the current regulatory framework for homeopathy. Read More

John Weeks, Publisher and Editor, ‘Integrator Blog News & Reports’, publishes his latest edition of his annual Integrator Top 10 list for the emerging field of integrative health and medicine. Read more…

IHPC’s Call to Action on “The Expanding Care for Veterans Act” — H.R. 4887 — which would expand Federal support for complementary and integrative health (CIH) services for veterans — has generated more than 1900 letters of support . Read More

On September 29, 2014, more than 125 leaders and advocates for CAM and integrative healthcare met at the Georgetown University Conference Center to attend an invitational policy symposium entitled “A Call to Action on Integrative Health and Medicine Policy, Advancing the Legacy of U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.” Presentations assessed the state of the complementary and integrative health field in light of Senator Harkin’s immeasurable vision and legislative efforts in the last 20-plus years. Morning Session “From the 2010 Stakeholder Report Forward: Integrative Health in the ACA:  Where Have We Come From?  Where Do We Go Next?” Moderator, Len Wisneski, MD, and IHPC chair. Speakers included: Michael Traub, ND: Non-Discrimination in Health Care Janet Kahn, PhD, LMT: The National Prevention, Health Promotion and Public Health Council Christine Goertz DC, PhD: The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Courtney Baechler, MD: Integration in Practice:  Accountable Care and Patient Centered Medical Homes John Weeks: Healthcare Workforce Interprofessional Practice and Education   Keynote: Eric Schoomaker MD, PhD, former Surgeon General, US Army Introduced by Wayne Jones MD, CEO, Samueli Institute “The Imperative for Integrative Health and Medicine in the United States”   Afternoon Session “Emerging Trends and Opportunities in Integrative Health & Medicine” Moderator: Margaret Chesney, PhD, Chair, the Consortium of Academic Health Centers of Integrative Medicine (CAHCIM). Speakers included: Josephine Briggs, MD: “Building the Capacity for Real World Effectiveness Research for Integrative Health” Clem Bezold, PhD: “intersecting Futures for Public Health, Primary Care and Integrative Health and Medicine” Christopher D’Adamo: “Mission Thrive and Nature as Health” Wayne Jonas MD: “Creating Wellbeing Leadership Group” Ahmed Calvo, MD, MPH: “Wholistic Approaches to Community Health and Wellbeing”   Gerry Clum, DC, moderated the following small group discussions: “Where Do We Go From Here.” Mary Jo Kreitzer, RN, PhD, FAAN offered reflections on the day at the close of the program. Testimonial Dinner for Sen. Harkin The symposium was followed with a reception and dinner program honoring Sen. Tom Harkin, who was introduced by U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski.  Tributes were made by the major sponsors of the event including Life University, the Institute for Integrative Health, Georgetown University, the Academic Consortium for Complementary and Alternative Health Care, the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine, the Integrative Healthcare Policy Consortium and the Samueli Institute.

The US Senate’s primary supporters of integrative health and medicine, Sens. Tom Harkin and Barbara Mikulski have moved for the second straight year — and the Senate has passed unanimously — a resolution declaring this week Naturopathic Medicine Week. Read More

Creating a defined new place — and role — for licensed complementary, alternative and integrative health practitioners in the nation’s redefined workforce: the Community Health Center. Read More

The national leadership of the integrative health and medicine fields meets in Washington Sept. 29 to honor the contributions of retiring US Sen. Tom Harkin. Harkin has been the leading voice on Capitol Hill demanding inclusion of integrative therapies in the country’s healthcare system. Read More

This Fall, IHPC will launch its consumer-facing education and information web site CoverMyCare which recently appeared in The Integrator Blog, and the integrative health business and marketing web site FON Therapeutics. Read More…

Follow this summary to download a IHPC’s response to the “Request for Information Regarding Provider Non-Discrimination” sent in early June to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Read More…

IHPC grant from Emerson Ecologics will support creation of an important reference booklet on the cost-effectiveness of integrative health services, in data and in patient stories. Read more…

John Blum on Section 2706: Opportunities for CAM … in major areas of population health … to better utilize alternative practitioners, not as re-invented primary care doctors but as licensed professionals within their current scopes of practice.
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