Regarding: “Insurance Reimbursement for Complementary Healthcare Services”

In the article, “Insurance Reimbursement for Complementary Healthcare Services,” we reported that the likelihood of reimbursement for complementary health care services in New Hampshire was significantly lower as compared with services of primary care physicians. The relatively low likelihood of reimbursement for integrative health care suggests that many patients who want such services must pay for them out of pocket. Affordable access to these services may be similarly limited in other states; certainly the utilization of integrative health care services varies significantly across the US states, and such variation may be tied to likelihood of reimbursement. Unwarranted geographic variation in reimbursement for integrative health care services is likely to compound inequities in access to health care in general, particularly for people of lower socioeconomic status. The aspirational value of Health Justice asserts the obligation of societies to attend to the basic health needs of all, with particular attention to the disadvantaged. A new project under development, The Atlas of Integrative Healthcare, is intended to support the advancement of health justice. The Atlas project is expected to support the policy goals of the integrative health care community with regard to helping patients access the high-value integrative health care services that they need and want.