Alternative medicine in health plans? Insurers address rising interest in non-traditional medical products and services. Increase in premium costs?

• Author: O'Farrell, Kathy
• Position: Health Care

NON-TRADITIONAL medicine--more commonly known as alternative or complementary medicine--is growing in acceptance in the United States. A benchmark study published in 1998 in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that 42 percent of the adult U.S. population used alternative medical therapies in 1997, and that year, visits to alternative-medical practitioners exceeded those to primary-care providers.

Health-care service providers in alternative medicine include chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists and dieticians. Health and wellness products abound, and health-care consumers are responsible for their rising popularity They are seeking greater selection as well as discounts on products such as vitamins, minerals, herbal and dietary supplements, homeopathic remedies, sports nutrition products and skin-care items. And there's a huge appetite for health-related education materials, such as books, videotapes and DVDs.

Not only are consumers behind this push, but employers are beginning to realize the benefits of a healthier workforce in reducing the ever-rising costs of health care. In 1999, the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists conducted a survey sampling nearly half of its 3,700 members.

Some highlights of the study are especially worth noting:

* Two-thirds of the respondents anticipated an increasing number of employers offering alternative-care benefits or discounts to their workforce.

* The No. 1 reason for employers offering alternative health-care benefits was employee requests for the coverage.

* The majority of employers with alternative-care benefits sampled in the survey (86 percent) provide them as a covered benefit in the employer-sponsored health plan.

The predominant belief is that an effective corporate wellness philosophy should result in more productive employees--fewer days out due to illness--and lower health-care insurance premiums. The financial benefit to wellness programs seems...