Legislation “would allow doctors to incorporate alternative health providers in some treatment plans,” the Times wrote on Sunday.
While advocates say that dietary supplements and alternative medicines have an obvious place in the U.S. healthcare system, critics claim the proposal would “undermine one of the central principles of the healthcare overhaul: that the system cut costs by eliminating medical treatments that aren't proven effective.”
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Health Committee, has been leading support for the measure. "Sen. Harkin has done everything he can to ensure that supports for proven preventive practices, be they traditional or complementary, are included in this bill," spokeswoman Bergen Kenny, told the Times.
The Senate bill would also create a pilot program in 10 low-income communities to establish "wellness" plans for people at risk of preventable conditions, such as obesity. The plans may include nutritional counseling and stress-management counseling, as well as dietary supplements.
The Chicago Tribune also reported: "The measures in the Senate bill are small in scope but significant in the precedents they set. To alternative health care providers, they show lawmakers catching up to the preferences already expressed by millions of Americans, who spend $34 billion a year on alternative treatments."