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VICTORIA – On April 1, B.C. will become the first Canadian province to offer acupuncture treatments as a supplementary benefit for its Medical Services Plan (MSP) premium assistance recipients, Health Minister George Abbott announced today.
“Acupuncture is recognized worldwide as a safe and effective way to treat or manage a variety of health conditions,” said Abbott. “We are pleased that the inclusion of acupuncture as a supplementary MSP benefit will ensure that more British Columbians have the ability to explore treatment options that they might otherwise be unable to access.”
Premium assistance benefits are available to eligible B.C. residents with a combined family income of $28,000 or less. MSP reimburses premium assistance recipients $23 for each supplementary benefit visit, to a combined maximum of 10 visits in each calendar year. Patients are covered for acupuncture treatments for a diagnosed condition through visits with practitioners registered by the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of British Columbia (CTCMA).
MSP also provides funding support to premium assistance patients for selected services of physiotherapists, naturopaths, chiropractors, massage therapists and non-surgical podiatrists.
“Acupuncture has been used as an effective therapy for thousands of years and its inclusion as a supplementary MSP benefit is great news for the health of British Columbians,” said Dr. Harvey Hu, president of the BC Qualified Acupuncturists and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Association. “We hope this move will help to increase knowledge and understanding of the benefits of acupuncture as a treatment method.”
Acupuncture treatments typically involve inserting thin sterilized needles under a patient’s skin to stimulate acupuncture points. The use of acupuncture has shown promising results for the treatment of nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy, nausea during pregnancy, migraine headaches, chronic lower back pain and pain from osteoarthritis of the knee or hip.
The acupuncture profession is regulated under the Health Professions Act of B.C. and there are approximately 1,200 acupuncture practitioners registered with the CTCMA, the regulatory body for acupuncturists in B.C.
Individuals requiring assistance in locating a registered B.C. acupuncturist can contact the CTCMA at 604-783-7100 or online at www.ctcma.bc.ca.
For information on premium assistance benefits, including eligibility requirements and applications procedures, please visit www.health.gov.bc.ca/msp/infoben/premium.html#assistance.
British Columbians who are not premium assistance patients may have access to certain acupuncture therapies through extended health benefit plans.
High-quality audio clips are available for media use on the government media room at www.mediaroom.gov.bc.ca/DisplayEventDetails.aspx?eventId=411.
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Communications Director Ministry of Health 250 812-5571 (cell) 250 952-1887 (media line) |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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