Taking A Stand on Health Care Reform
By Karen Howard

As of today, 900 people have sent 1900 emails to the U.S. Senate requesting inclusion of nondiscrimination language (contained in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension reform bill) be maintained in the final version of reform legislation. This would prevent insurers from excluding NDs practicing in licensed states from participating in plans created by the government. To write your Senator, please click here – this decision is imminent. Let’s double the number of emails. So why does the AANP take this stand?

I understand that many in our community have passionate interests as they relate to “health care reform.” After the election I received numerous calls to support a single-payor health care system. For more than 7 years I have fielded many issues surrounding the federal definition of physician and an ND’s inability to obtain a residency or accept Medicare. For more than 10 years I worked with virtually every managed care company in the nation, finally trading that world for naturopathic medicine - a practice I personally feel has little to do with the U.S. health care system as we know it. The AANP has virtually no voice in the battle around health care financing. If you follow the debate you understand the enormous political and financial pressures that the AMA, the insurance industry, and the drug manufacturers are placing on the debate.

So why today does the AANP take a stand to support inclusion of NDs in the system? A very good question.

Today’s legislative efforts, which stand a 50/50 chance of successful passage, have virtually nothing to do with health care. This health insurance debate is all about increasing access to care via the only method this country knows.
Increasing the number of people in a failing system is likely to accelerate the need for real reform. People who promote real health and wellness are strident in their messaging around this topic. I couldn’t agree more. This is what we speak to legislators about every year at the DC FLI. Until the system adopts the core philosophy of naturopathic medicine, we will fail future generations.
Electing to not be a part of the health care system is your right, and will continue to be so today or tomorrow. Yet, if any law enacted, be it this year or in five years, and the rights of any practitioner licensed in any state to practice primary/acute care or manage chronic disease are overruled by federal law, we loose all voice in the creation of real reform.
The Congressional Budget Office can’t find a way to “score” savings in legislative language that requires access to providers like you who restore optimal health. We must demonstrate to them why they are wrong using every potential tool available.
Have you read the NEW definition of naturopathic physician from the Department of Labor? It stands as evidence of how you and the practice of naturopathic medicine are changing the way NDs are perceived at the national level.
We are no longer under anyone’s radar! In a new AMA resource compendium they write, “Some naturopathic treatments are blatantly unsafe and place the health of the patient at great risk for additional health complications,” quoting a 2003 Medscape article that “If anything, ‘traditional naturopaths’ (i.e., those that did not attend the ‘approved’ schools) may be less of a threat to public health because they do not pretend to be primary care physicians.”

AANP is committed to holding the space for NDs and their like-minded colleagues to bring about real reform. For months we have been sharing our vision and strategy on member-wide calls that are available on the website for you to listen to.

Our strategy is not to have “Obama Care” pass or fail.
Our strategy is not to overrule effective state programs where patients are benefiting from the effective care of naturopathic doctors.
Our strategy is not about mandating participation by NDs in the system.

Our strategy is to promote access to naturopathic doctors and protect the practice of naturopathic medicine as the federal government moves forward, guiding the conversation as best we can and holding forth the power of what this medicine will do for the future of this country.