One of the main drivers of the pressure for reform of health is the rising cost of health insurance. As affordable health insurance becomes more difficult to find, more people are deciding that the current system needs fixing. Some blame the high cost of premiums on the margins of private insurers, non-profit or increased obesity rates in America. These factors certainly play a role, however, the first explanation may be a service expansion plans insurance. A growing number of insurance companies now cover alternative medicine. Alternative treatments include herbs, acupuncture and chiropractic. Insurers say they are simply responding to consumer demand, but its coverage of these unproven treatments in large increases in health costs for everyone?

Over the last few decades, alternative medicine has become commonplace. Millions of Americans rely on it to treat conditions who feel the medical profession generally has not treated effectively with. They have had to pay the entire cost of their treatment out of pocket until recently. Aetna and Kaiser Permanente are among the health insurance companies have begun to collect most of the tab. The use of alternative services will probably increase as the patients only have a co-payment for low cost. While that is a huge savings for consumers of alternative therapies, it could drive up insurance costs for everyone else.

Under certain circumstances, studies have shown that alternative medicine is effective. However, most alternative medicine treatments still not been proven to work. Moreover, more conventional treatment has suffered years of scientific evidence. A visit to a chiropractor instead of a doctor could make economic sense if have back pain, but not if you are suffering from an ear infection. If a patient is alternative medicine ineffective and then return to conventional medicine, the href = "http://www.vitalonehealth.com"> health insurance plan will have to pay twice to try the same condition. Use of alternative resources, such as dietary supplements herbal, unlike the standard prescription may even worsen the health of a patient. Take this hypothetical example: A patient with high cholesterol Lipitor is prescribed, but choose to take supplements red yeast rice (which is marketed for treat the same condition). Supplements of the latter is more likely harmless in themselves. However, if the patient used instead of the proven Lipitor, he or she probably will not treat the underlying disease. As a result, your condition could worsen and even lead to a heart attack or stroke. Your insurance company will be responsible for aftercare, which would be much more expensive compared to the initial treatment. This is an example of waste that plague our health system.

Some groups are pushing to include coverage of alternative medicine in the proposed reform of the health of the nation, because they believe that the exclusion of professionals constitutes discrimination. Doing so would make the bill even more costly. Democrats are calling public an option in part to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of care, this requirement probably would defeat the purpose. Although a third of Americans have used some form of alternative medicine, it is doubtful Congress mandated coverage. Republican politicians could take advantage of the supporters of the treatments alternative health, and use it as an example of the horrors of rationed health care. The only problem with this strategy is that the GOP is against the federal government to the nonprofit health insurance of any kind of mandate in relation to what he can not refuse to cover (for example, the provision Democrats bill that would prohibit insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical conditions). On the contrary, believe that insurers should be able to sell what health insurance plans to choose in the open market.

Yamileth Medina is an up and coming expert on Health Insurance and Healthcare Reform. She aims to help people realize that they can get affordable health insurance plans right now while waiting for a public option, if it ever gets passed. Yamileth lives in Miami, FL.

Health Care? – Our Congress is Privatized