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Tuesday, Jan. 26, 1999

Alternative therapies meet managed health care plans

By ROSEMARY BARNES
Staff Writer Medical Writer

   The city's largest employer, the Corpus Christi Independent School District, now covers employee visits to massage therapists, reflexologists, Tai Chi instructors and other alternative medicine practitioners, with the same health plan that covers conventional medical treatments.
   The Diocese of Corpus Christi also recently added some alternative therapies to its group health insurance.
   It's a first for both employers, but a move that more local businesses are certain to follow, said an industry observer.
   The two employers have included alternative therapies in their managed health care plans for the same reasons more employers across the nation are doing the same thing - statistics show that visits to alternative medicine practitioners have risen sharply in recent years.

George Gongoria/Caller-Times

Sterling Bocage massages a patient at the Delos Mind-Body Institute, located at 525 S. Caranchua St.

   In both cases, the district's and the diocese's health insurance providers suggest the employers incorporate alternative therapies into their group plans to respond to the employees' needs.
   "Employers all over the country are looking at all options to get people more interested in taking control over their health," said Clark Adkins, CCISD's director of employee benefits. "Alternative is basically preventative measures that are beginning to take off. In coming years, I envision most employers making alternative therapies part of their standard health benefits."
   Numerous insurance companies around the nation have begun incorporating alternative therapies into group health plans in the last two years, said John Weeks, author of the national monthly newsletter The Integrator for the Business of Alternative Medicine.
   A national survey conducted by the Business and Health Magazine showed that 8 percent of large employers covered some form of alternative medicine in 1996. That number grew to 24 percent in 1997, the survey showed.
   Some larger insurance companies offering coverage for alternative care include Aetna U.S. Healthcare, Mutual of Omaha, and Blue Cross/Blue Shield companies in California, Maryland, Oregon, Alaska and Washington.
   "The widespread consumer use of alternative medicine and its news coverage in recent years is driving this expanded health coverage," Weeks said. "Also, many company decision makers, the chief executive officers and human resources directors, use forms of alternative medicine. So, they have been championing their cause and getting coverage for things like massage therapy, biofeedback and acupuncture. I only see this kind of coverage increasing over time."
   

Network of alternatives

   The Journal of the American Medical Association has identified the most commonly used forms of alternative therapies as relaxation techniques, herbal medicine, massage, chiropractic, spiritual healing by others, megavitamins, self-help, imagery, commercial diet, folk, lifestyle diet, energy healing, homeopathy, hypnosis, biofeedback and acupuncture.
   The use of these therapies has increased from 33.8 percent in 1990 to 42.1 percent in 1997, the journal reported in November.
   Americans are spending at least $27 billion a year on forms of alternative health care, the journal reported.
   The journal also reported that Americans made 629 million visits to alternative medicine practitioners in 1997, compared with 386 million visits to establishment doctors in 1997.
   The increasing numbers of people turning to alternative therapies caught the attention of Dr. Patrick Thomas, a local chiropractor, a few months ago.
   That's when Thomas began forming a statewide network of 430 alternative medicine practitioners that he hopes will be included in many Texas managed health care plans.
   Thomas is now marketing the Texas Alternative Health Network, which includes chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists and naturopaths to major group health care companies around the state. Some of the practitioners in the network are based in Corpus Christi.
   Thomas has not signed a contract yet but said he is hopes to close a major contract in a few days.
   "Alternative medicine is hot right now. It's the fad," Thomas said. "We want to be ahead of the competition."
   Thomas said insurance companies are moving fast to give consumers what they already are paying for from their own pockets.
   "This is a consumer-driven product," Thomas said. "More patients than ever are using some form of alternative care. And more insurance companies are attaching networks such as ours to their traditional group health plan."
   

How the plans work

   Adding alternative care to standard group health plans in most cases does not add to the cost of premiums, Thomas said.
   "Our network won't add anything to the cost of premiums. We'll be giving discounts to members for the services we'll provide," Thomas said. "That's the case with most insurance companies adding alternative therapies."
   Adkins and Stan Millsap, the diocese secretary for personnel, said the cost of their overall health packages did not increase for adding alternative care coverage.
   "We know that this is preventative care for our 700 employees," Millsap said. "In the end, we'll see higher productivity, lower absenteeism, and our employees will lead healthier, happier lives at home and at work. That's our motivation here."
   Under the diocese's self-funded health plan through Benefit Planners of San Antonio, employees are responsible for a $15 co-payment for each alternative care treatment, including massage therapy, acupuncture, biofeedback and nutrition counseling.
   The school district's plan with United Health Care of Texas Inc. of Corpus Christi requires a $10-to-$20 co-payment per visit, depending on the type of care, Adkins said. Of the district's 5,400 employees, about 3,500 are covered by the group health plan.
   The school district has been covering alternative care since Oct. 1, and the diocese since Jan. 1.
   With both plans, employees choose from a list of providers for each form of alternative medicine covered. Both plans also have no limits on the number of visits to an alternative care practitioner. Doctor referrals are not required.
   

Demand growing

    Ilya Lozev, owner of Massage Therapy Associates, Inc. of Corpus Christi, said he is pleased to be included in Thomas' network because of the growing demand for alternative services here and across the state.
   Since establishing his business here in 1985, Lozev said he has seen his clientele double.
   "When I started out, I would see maybe 15 clients a week at the very most," Lozev said. "Today, we're seeing about 30 people a week for massages. Most of them are regular clients who come in once a week or every other week."
   Some of Lozev's clients were injured in accidents and referred to him by physicians. But the majority of his clients are stressed out in need of relaxation, he said.
   "These are very stressful times. People work long hours, and their bodies pay for it," Lozev said. "That's why I'm so excited about this network. Employers are beginning to realize that they need to help their employees lead healthier lifestyles. A relaxed, healthy employee is the best employee."
   

Integrating the alternatives

    Dr. Charles W. Kennedy, an orthopedic surgeon for 28 years, began integrating some forms of alternative therapies into his practice seven years ago because he wanted his patients to have cost-effective treatments that had few side effects.
   "As an orthopedic surgeon, I see lots of people complaining of pain," Kennedy said. "The traditional approach of prescribing pain medication and physical therapy isn't for everyone. Medication can have severe side effects and physical therapy can be costly."
   In addition to his orthopedic practice, Kennedy spends part of each week at the Delos Mind-Body Institute, which was established in Corpus Christi by Marshall Voris 15 years ago. The institute moved to larger accommodations at 525 S. Carancahua St. a year ago.
   The institute offers a full range of alternative treatments, including acupuncture, massage therapy, nutritional counseling, biomagnetic therapy and neurofeedback and classes for yoga and meditation, Voris said.
   Voris said the institute serves about 120 patients with some type of weekly treatment. That's almost three times the number of patients who sought treatment at the institute four or five years ago, he said.
   "Our whole mission is to create an integrative approach to treatment," Voris said. "No patient should have to choose between traditional and us."
   

Fear of the unknown

    Most physicians are skeptical about alternative care because most of the treatments lack scientifically sound data, Kennedy said.
   Although the National Institutes of Health recently created the Office of Alternative Medicine to study alternative therapies, solid scientific information remains scanty.
   "Not a lot of research has been done on most alternative therapies, but we know for sure that many of these treatments are more cost effective and have fewer side effects than conventional treatments," Kennedy said. "But when you think about it, a lot of Western medical therapies have not been scientifically proven but are still used."
   It's just a matter of time before all doctors incorporate alternative therapies into their practices, Kennedy said.
   "All doctors interested in seeing patients will be using integrative care pretty soon," Kennedy said. "That's what the patients are demanding of us."
   Medical writer Rosemary Barnes can be reached at 886-3716 or by e-mail at barnesr@caller.com

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