British Columbia will be the first Canadian province to pay for acupuncture with public health insurance money, the province's health minister announced on Sunday.
Anyone earning less than $28,000 per year will be able to get reimbursed for visits to an acupuncturist, who puts sterilized needles beneath the skin to treat conditions such as back pain, said George Abbott.
"Acupuncture is recognized worldwide as a safe and effective way to treat or manage a variety of health conditions," said Abbott in a news release. "The inclusion... will ensure that more British Columbians have the ability to explore treatment options."
The province's Medical Services Plan (MSP) will make the changes to expand insurance coverage on April 1.
B.C. residents with a combined family income of $28,000 or less will be reimbursed $23 per visit to an acupuncturist, to a maximum of 10 visits each year.
MSP also provides funding to low-income people who visit physiotherapists, naturopaths, chiropractors, massage therapists, and non-surgical podiatrists.
The move was welcomed by the B.C. Qualified Acupuncturists and Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners Association.
"Acupuncture has been used as an effective therapy for thousands of years, and its inclusion as a supplementary MSP benefit is great news for the health of British Columbians," said Dr. Harvey Hu, the president of the association.
The technique has shown "promising results" for the treatment of nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy, nausea during pregnancy, migraines, and chronic lower back pain, the minister said.
There are about 1,200 acupuncturists registered with the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of B.C.
