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ACMA Publication Issue August 1, 2007 On Universal Healthcare American Chinese Medicine Association (ACMA)
What is the future universal healthcare system? According to Harvard Medical School surveys on Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the United States, the total visits to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) providers, 629 million, exceeded total visits to all primary care physicians, 386 million, in 1997 [1]. Therefore, if the CAM is not covered, the universal healthcare will not be universal at all. ACMA deems that in order to represent all people's healthcare needs and wishes, the future universal healthcare system should equip with the following two basic requirements: (a) Universal people coverage -- all people are covered; (b) Universal medicine coverage -- all medicines are covered. The second criterion is very important. It provides the public with healthcare freedom in choosing the medicines and treatments they want. If the medicine covered in the universal healthcare system is limited to Western Medicine only, the people will be unable to choose the medicines and treatments they want. As a result, the people will be forced to choose the Western Medicine only, and will lose the healthcare freedom. Such a limited healthcare system is not universal healthcare system no matter how many people are covered in this system. If the universal healthcare is limited to Western Medicine only, the more people covered, the more taxes will be needed. This will force more people to receive Western Medicine only (which majority of the public do not want) by paying more taxes. If this happens, it will deprive of more people's healthcare freedom by enforcing higher taxes. So if the universal healthcare does not cover other medicines, it should not collect any tax, give the people tax breaks to let them choose the medicines they want. In sum, the universal healthcare system should be universal in both people and medicines covered. It should provide the freedom for patients to choose the medicines and treatments they prefer. Current healthcare coverage system is based on insurance system. Because the insurance system is sponsored by Western Medicine, insurance system does not cover Western Medicine's competitors -- complementary and alternative medicines. On the other hand, in the insurance system, people place their healthcare issues in the hands of others. People have no choice of which medicine and treatments they want to receive. Therefore, the insurance system does not meet the second requirement -- Healthcare Freedom -- and cannot become the universal healthcare system. Another important consideration is the tax. The universal healthcare should not increase tax. Increasing tax will damage the economy and will decrease people's living standards. However, under the current insurance system, tax will be increased if universal healthcare is enforced. Due to this reason, the universal healthcare system should be a completely new system different from current insurance system. One possible universal healthcare system is as follows: (1) People are free to choose the medicine and treatment they want (including complementary and alternative medicine); (2) The healthcare account for each person will be set up to cover, match, and/or reimburse the healthcare cost (either Western Medicine or Complementary and Alternative Medicine) for the person. The healthcare account comes from the person's payment, employer's match, government match, tax contribution, etc. A healthcare system of full healthcare coverage and healthcare freedom is the future universal healthcare system.
Reference: [1] Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Ettner SL, Appel S, Wilkey S, Rompay MV, and Kessler RC. Trends in Alternative Medicine Use in the United States, 1990-1997: Results of a Follow-up National Survey, JAMA. 1998; 280: 1569 - 1575.
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