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Legislative Updates
There have recently been a few minor changes to our acupuncture statute here in Vermont, and a few changes to the statutes related to all professional occupations in the state. The Governor signed these changes into effect on May 15, 2006. We are still working on the initiatives below, but here is a summary of the recent changes.
The following items have been added to the acupuncture statute:
1) Provisions to allow students in an approved training program
to practice acupuncture under the supervision of a licensed
acupuncturist
2) A provision to allow a licensed or certified
acupuncturist from another state or Canadian province to use acupuncture as
part of health care professional educational seminars or programs in
Vermont.
3) Preceptors will need to be approved by the director
for all apprenticeship programs and may have no more than two apprentices at
any one time.
4) A provision to require the examination on
Chinese herbology for those practicing Chinese herbology who are licensed
after January 1, 2007.
The following changes have been added to the general
provisions governing all licensed professions:
1) In addition to other
provisions of law, unauthorized practice shall be punishable by a fine of not
more than $5,000.00 or imprisonment for not more than one year, or both.
Prosecution may occur upon the complaint of the attorney general or a state¹s
attorney or an attorney assigned by the office of professional regulation
under this section and shall not act as a bar to civil or administrative
proceedings involving the same conduct.
2) Waive or modify continuing
education requirements for persons on active duty in the United States armed
forces.
Additions to what constitutes unprofessional
conduct:
3) Performing treatments or providing services which the
licensee is not qualified to perform or which are beyond the scope of the
licensee¹s education, training, capabilities, experience, or scope of
practice.
4) Failing to report to the office within 30 days a change of
name or address.
Vermont State Legislative Initiatives
as of February 2006
We started this year's
session with the goal of advancing legislation that would affect our profession
in two ways:
- To require that insurance companies who offer acupuncture
coverage be prohibited from restricting Licensed acupuncturists from such
coverage. Often these policies will cover acupuncture, but only if an MD, DC, or
other professional covers it.
- To require that other professionals whose scope of
practice includes acupuncture (DC, ND, MD, DO) be required to have a minimal
certification of training in acupuncture.
We had drafted two bills, one to address each of the above
issues. Upon the advice of the Rep’s supporting this bill, we have decided to
abandon our stand-alone bill for issue #1 above in support of a broader bill
which will accomplish the same thing for us and seems to have a better chance of
passage. The broader approach is language that is being included in the health
care reform legislation that will require that any professional licensed in VT
be reimbursed for services included in their scope of practice. This approach
will apply to the newly proposed Green Mountain Health Care system – which will
cover Vermonters who are currently uninsured. It will also apply to the Chronic
Care Initiative – which is designed to reduce the cost of treating chronic
diseases. The focus of CCI is currently on diabetes, but it is planned to be
expanded to address other chronic diseases such as heart disease, arthritis,
etc. I think there is a fair chance that this approach will be successful. If
so, it will be an important step in having our services fairly reimbursed
without restricting acupuncture reimbursement to MD’s, DC’s, ND’s,
etc.
To address issue #2 above, we have introduced H-837 (see attached
document). This bill would simply require that professionals other than LAc’s
whose scope of practice includes acupuncture (MD, DC, ND, DO, DDS, etc) be
required to receive a certificate of training in order to actually use
acupuncture within their practice. It sets the standard of training at 300
hours, including 100 hours of supervised clinical training. I realize that 300
hours of training does not make someone an acupuncture specialist, however, it
is better than the current situation where there are no defined requirements. I
also believe it is incumbent upon each of us, as practitioners, and the VAAOM,
as a trade association, to educate the public on the difference between the
quality of acupuncture received when provided by a minimally trained provider
vs. a specialist (L.Ac.). I think this bill has a good chance of passage if we
can get committee time for consideration. Most legislators I’ve talked to are
shocked when they learn that Chiropractors or Physicians are allowed to perform
acupuncture without any specific training requirements.
The actual bill introduced can be viewed here Bill H-837
Here is a copy of the current Vermont Secretary of State Office of Professional Regulation Administrative Rules for Licensed Acupuncturists
Federal Acupuncture
Coverage Act
practitioners and friends/patients should contact
their congressional rep to support the Federal Acupuncture Coverage Act
(HR818) Pertinent links are to
AAOM Action Alert
http://thomas.loc.gov (then enter HR818 in the "search bill text"
field)
http://www.nycacupuncture.com/hr818.html
a online copy of the Vermont State Professional Statute for acupuncturists can be found here:
Vermont Practice Act
Information regarding any of the legal issues surrounding the practice of acupuncture and Oriental Medicine may be listed here:
state and national legislative updates, training and licensure requirements, insurance processes, hospital rights, herbal regulations, HIPPA expectations, and so on...
If you, a member or a friend have anything to add to this effort, please contact the VAAOM at webminister@vaaom.org and we will be glad to post it. We need your help.
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