From: rpattree2@gmail.com   
      
   Naturopaths part of Medicaid expansion network    
      
      
   By RACHEL LA CORTE Associated Press May 25, 2014    
   OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Amanda Lewis and her husband use a naturopathic doctor,   
   covered by their private insurance plan, as their primary care provider. But   
   up until this year, Lewis had to pay $95 a visit for her young son because   
   naturopaths in    
   Washington state weren't authorized to be part of the Medicaid plan under   
   which he was covered.    
      
   That out-of-pocket cost was reduced to zero after Washington officials moved   
   to change the rules that had previously excluded naturopaths from the health   
   insurance program for low-income patients.    
      
   "We were ecstatic," said Lewis, an office manager for an automotive body shop   
   who lives in Sultan, Washington, and is due to have her second child in   
   August. She said that she and her husband's combined salary is at a threshold   
   where they don't qualify    
   for Medicaid, but their 16-month-old son does qualify. "We don't have to   
   stress about setting aside that money for the budget."    
      
   Naturopathic doctors are licensed in more than a dozen states, including   
   Washington, but only three have allowed them to be part of the Medicaid   
   system. When naturopaths were added to the list of providers who can receive   
   Medicaid reimbursements,    
   Washington joined Vermont and Oregon.    
      
   As states that expanded eligibility under the Affordable Care Act see the   
   number of newly insured people on Medicaid steadily increase, naturopath   
   groups say they can help address nationwide concerns about doctor shortages.    
      
   "The profession is still too small to entirely fill that gap of primary care   
   providers, but we're one of the answers," said Jud Richland, CEO of the   
   American Association of Naturopathic Physicians.    
      
   Naturopathic medicine focuses on prevention and overall health primarily   
   through the use of natural therapies, though naturopathic doctors in   
   Washington state can write prescriptions for many traditional medications,   
   like antibiotics, as well.    
      
   Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians executive director Robert   
   May said that there are more than 800 licensed naturopathic doctors in   
   Washington state, though he said there's no data yet on how many have decided   
   to join Medicaid.    
      
   Only 17 states and the District of Columbia have licensed naturopathic   
   doctors, the most recent state being Maryland earlier this year. And while the   
   national group is making a licensing push in several more states this year,   
   its other focus is on trying    
   to get naturopaths covered under Medicare, the federal program for those 65   
   and older.    
      
   But, supporters said that Medicaid acceptance, while limited to so few states,   
   is a good step.    
      
   "Certainly, it allows patients more choice," May said. "It allows a broader   
   group of patients, who otherwise have never been likely to afford naturopathic   
   care, to get it."    
      
   Washington state is among 26 states that have expanded eligibility to Medicaid   
   to people who earn less than 138 percent of the federal poverty line, or about   
   $16,104 a year for a single adult. Previously there was no Medicaid program   
   for nondisabled    
   childless adults between the ages of 18 and 65.    
      
   The number of people enrolled for Medicaid in Washington state, previously at   
   1.2 million, has jumped by 450,000 adults since Oct. 1. About 300,000 of those   
   enrollees were newly eligible for the program, while the rest were previously   
   eligible but did    
   not sign up until the new health exchange started up. Washington officials   
   moved to change the rules excluding naturopaths from Medicaid last year.    
      
   Lewis and her family go to Snohomish Valley Holistic Medicine's Dr. Stacy   
   Bowker, who is a Medicaid provider through the state, and is also credentialed   
   through Molina Healthcare. Officials with the state Health Care Authority say   
   that about 200    
   naturopaths are enrolled in Medicaid either through the state, or through the   
   five Medicaid-managed care plans in the state.    
      
   Bowker said she's taken on eight to 10 new Medicaid patients since the start   
   of the year.    
      
   "We definitely had an influx of calls from people with Medicaid because of the   
   awareness that we are covered," Bowker said. "I've had some people who were   
   really thrilled and really excited. They had been waiting for the day when   
   they could see a    
   naturopathic doctor, because they were frustrated with their options."    
      
      
   http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Naturopaths-part-of-Medicaid-   
   xpansion-network-260601161.html?mobile=y    
      
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