Jan 12 2012
Legislative Alchemy: The New Year
A new year brings new opportunities for practicing the magic of legislative alchemy, the process by which state legislatures transform implausible and unproven diagnostic methods and treatments into perfectly legal health care practices, such as naturopathy, chiropractic and acupuncture. Different states have differentlegislative calendars, but many begin a new session soon after the first of the year. This gives “complementary and alternative medicine” providers a fresh opportunity to increase their scope of practice, insurance coverage and influence.
The state house doors have barely opened but CAM-friendly bills are already being docketed and sent on to health care and other committees for analysis. Unfortunately, legislators seem less than adept at critical thinking when it comes to perusing CAM legislation. To this point, I’ll start with an example from 2011: “Vertebral Subluxation Awareness Month” in Pennsylvania.
