HR 818 is a Bill to amend medicare to pay for acupuncture. This bill did not have enough support to pass in 2005 and was referred to the House Subcommittee on Health. We have been advised that this bill has now reached 50% support in the House. Now would be a great time to call or write your representative and ask them to support the passage of this bill.

Letters, emails and calls to your representatives in Congress, urging them to co-sponsor the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act, are extremely effective. If you don't know who represents you in Congress, you can find out by entering your state name and zip code in the "Write Your Rep" website sponsored by the House of Representatives at http://www.house.gov/writerep/. You can also email your representative from this website regarding this bill. To make it easy for you, copy and paste the letter below into the text portion of the email and forward it to your representative. You can also download a document in PDF format of this letter by clicking here, fill in your own information, and send it through regular mail to your representative.



Dear Congressman name:



As an acupuncture patient, I urge you to cosponsor the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act. The bill, sponsored by Congressman Maurice Hinchey, would add an acupuncture benefit to Medicare and the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) plan.



I am one of the millions of Americans who know how effective acupuncture can be in treating chronic pain, addiction, and respiratory and digestive ailments. Both publicly and privately sponsored research confirm its benefits and the National Institutes of Health is continuing to study the effective applications of acupuncture.



For patients in search of safe, holistic treatments with little or no side effects, acupuncture has become an integral part of their health care regime. It is a safe, effective and inexpensive alternative to Western medicine. That's why more than 70 percent of the nation's insurers now cover some acupuncture treatments.



Please support the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act, which would give federal employees, seniors and the disabled the freedom to choose acupuncture.



Sincerely,



Name/address



If you would like to get more information regarding this bill you can view it at http://thomas.loc.gov/ by searching using the bill number which is HR818.