Integrative Health & Wellness Caucus Focuses on Putting Health Back in Healthcare
Bipartisan Effort Cites Prevention and Integrative Health Solutions to Combat Opioid Crisis
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 21, 2018 – Reps. Mike Coffman, R-CO and Jared Polis, D-CO, welcomed members of Congress, their staff and healthcare stakeholders to an inaugural meeting of the new Integrative Health and Wellness Caucus to a standing room only crowd on March 15, 2018. The collective efforts of the bipartisan team of Coffman and Polis, supported by the Integrative Healthcare Policy Consortium (IHPC), attracted a wide array of staff members representing the House of Representatives and Senate elected officials from states of Alaska, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Texas and Utah. “I think it’s important for patients to have all the facts and latest research when it comes to therapies and treatments available to them when making medical decisions,” Coffman said. “This is why it was my honor to welcome the Integrative Health and Wellness Caucus members to Capitol Hill last week.”
Rep. Polis addressed that, “Through this Caucus we are having conversations about how Congress can solve the major healthcare issues of this country and better meet the healthcare needs of everybody, including integrative health and wellness options.” He emphasized the importance of the timing of this Caucus to bring attention to successful non-pharmacological and other whole-person care options to the nation’s pain management crisis and opioid epidemic – which the Council on Foreign Relations cites as beyond the risks it poses to public health, it is becoming a drag on the economy and a threat to national security.
Other caucus attendees included representatives from the US Department of Defense, the US Department of Veterans Affairs and the US Air Force Medical Service. Registrants were also representatives from as many as thirty medical groups, insurers, hospitals, service providers, learning institutions, health care lobbying firms and patient groups that support integrative healthcare. “This caucus is the start of an important conversation to shift our healthcare paradigm from a reactive model to whole-person preventive outcomes,” said Len Wisneski, M.D., Chair Integrative Health Policy Consortium. “American’s have spent billions of dollars out-of-pocket on complementary and integrative care. It is time that Congress and healthcare payers and systems respond by including all credentialed and licensed providers and evidence-based care approaches into the choices available to all Americans.”
The educational forum included an impressive panel of experts, including Margaret Chesney, PhD, Past Chair, Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health and Former Deputy Director of NCCIH; Eric Schoomaker, M.D., PhD, LTG U.S. Army (RET), former U.S. Army Surgeon General and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Medical Command; and Benjamin Kligler, M.D., National Director of the Integrative Health Coordinating Center Office of Patient-Centered Care & Cultural Transformation at the Veterans Health Administration (VA). Speakers discussed effective solutions and innovative protocols in public health and among military personnel and veterans for addiction and pain management that emphasize nonpharmacological approaches.
“I was excited to be part of the inaugural congressional caucus proceedings,” said Peter F. Demitry, M.D., MPH, Executive Director, National Foundation for Integrative Medicine (NFIM) and former Assistant Air Force Surgeon General for Modernization. “The various organizations and stakeholders that attended and presented to Congress were very well informed with articulate, rational arguments that were well received by the United States legislators. I think there was clear consensus that the time to fix US health care policy is now and NFIM is happy to be both meeting and joining these various dedicated stakeholders.”
This kick-off to the newly formed Integrative Health and Wellness Caucus is the start of informing and educating Congress, policy-makers and agencies about the improved outcomes and cost-saving possible when healthcare is oriented to prevention, wellness and well-being.
The Integrative Health Policy Consortium is the national policy and advocacy voice of integrative health and wellness healthcare professional organizations, representing the voice of more than 600,000 healthcare providers. IHPC functions as a critical watchdog and monitor of federal agencies charged with overseeing America’s health and health research needs, working towards eliminating barriers to health. IHPC Chair Dr. Len Wisneski is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at George Washington University Medical Center, Adjunct Faculty at Georgetown University, and is on faculty at The University of Colorado. He has published over 30 scientific articles and a landmark textbook, “The Scientific Basis of Integrative Health.” Website: http://www.ihpc.org.
AMA Prepares Gag Order for Medical Dissenters – From Alliance for Natural Health The American Medical Association’s latest attempt to shore up their medical monopoly could have stiff consequences for practitioners who don’t toe the line. Action Alert! Angered by what they call “quack MDs,” the AMA recently decided to “actively defend the profession.” In particular, it plans to create…
America has a representative government. Voters elect leaders who appoint civil servants, and they implement ‘public policy’. This works for much public business, but in areas involving social services—school reform, drug rehabilitation, criminal justice, race relations, poverty and even security policy, results fall far short of aspirations.
September 13, 2011 By James J. Gormley, Vice President and Senior Policy Advisor, Citizens for Health According to a July 7, 2011 report from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Pathway to Global Product Safety and Quality, government spending on healthcare has been on the rise since at least 1990 in the world’s leading economies. U.S. Medicare spending is…
Jim Turner, Citizens for Health. April 16, 2009, Congressional Briefing, Healthcare Reform Stories From the Frontlines. Russell Senate Office Building.
It is critical to remain vigilant in order to rebuff efforts to curtail our health freedom. While threats to this freedom are nothing new, we alerted you in June to a very specific threat to homeopathy. The FDA is seeking the authority to ban all homeopathic remedies which are already accepted into the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States. CFH…
Part 2 of “Media May Kill Vitamins” – Submitted as a guest editorial by Suzanne Jenkins, November 29, 2011 Over-the-counter dietary supplements are endangered as evidenced by ongoing attacks reported in the media. Currently Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Henry Waxman are trying a new tactic to discredit dietary supplements after previous legislative failures by asking the Government Accountability Office…
Courtesy of our allies at Alliance for Natural Health This time it’s been slipped into a defense bill. Major Action Alert – Send Your Letter Now! We suspected it would only be a matter of time before Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) launched his next broadside against supplements. Once again, Durbin and his allies, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), are pouncing…
Hello, Everyone! In this post: Dr. Mark Sircus, AC, OMD, DM (P) – Natural Allopath Medicines (nutrients) recommended by Dr. Sircus to have and use at home Dr. Sircus: dosages and treatments for Coronavirus infections Nutrient home delivery methods Considerations when using nutrients as medicine Supplement recommendations Dr. Sircus protocol: treatments and products (includes cancer, the ultimate immune challenge) Three…
April 4, 2013 (UPDATE: Special thanks to Consumers for Dental Choice for their invaluable partnership on this issue over the years. We failed to properly acknowledge them when this was first posted). When will the FDA fulfill their responsibility for dental mercury? “We will by the end of the year, we will make an announcement.” Silver Spring, MD – So…
Transpartisan Health Within Reach? by A. Lawrence Chickering and James S. Turner Through the smoldering ruins of the most recent healthcare financing reform effort we see the faint outlines of a transpartisan approach to health care. Former President Barack Obama issued a statement on the 7th anniversary of passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), one day before current Congressional…
Submitted as a guest editorial by Suzanne Jenkins, November 20, 2011 What happened to the media that investigates and reports both sides of the story? The practice of denigrating dietary supplements and raising public concern over “safety” has been elevated to an art form by the media. Sound bites and articles with such titles as, “Vitamins May Kill Elderly Americans,”…
By Alison Rose Levy via The Integrative Health Outlook Dr. Andrew Weil’s new book, “Why Our Health Matters” is a must read for anyone wondering why health care reform is in gridlock or what to do about it. In this book, Weil offers solid, original, clear-minded, and impeccably caring solutions for our health care conundrum. “I am sure you or…
Although this is coveted as a wonderful bill that is needed in the US so that drugs and medical devices can be fast tracked, if you read the nearly 1000 pages it is clear this is dangerous bill that is has the best interests of the Pharmaceutical industry at heart, NOT its consumers.
