White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy

As you may know, AAHF was instrumental in creating the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy several years ago, in an effort to direct the Federal Government's attention to the advancement and integration of CAM in the U.S. health care system. Language establishing the Commission was included in the legislation we spearheaded which created the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) at NIH.

The Commissioners are:

James S. Gordon, M.D., Director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, who will serve as Chair;
George M. Bernier, Jr., M.D., Vice President for Education, University of Texas Medical Branch;
Thomas Chappell, Co-Founder and President, Tom's of Maine, Inc., Kennebunk, Maine;
Effie Poy Yew Chow, a Qigong Grandmaster and acupuncturist and founder of the East West Academy of Healing Arts;
George T. DeVries, III, Chairman, President and CEO of American Specialty Health Plans;
Tieraona Low Dog, M.D., A.H.G., Albuquerque, New Mexico;
William R. Fair, M.D., Director, Prostate Diagnostic Center and Attending Surgeon, Urology Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center;
Joseph J. Fins, M.D., F.A.C.P., Associate Professor of Medicine, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York Presbyterian Hospital;
Veronica Gutierrez, D.C., Gutierrez Family Chiropractic, Arlington, Washington
Wayne B. Jonas, M.D., Department of Family Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, and former director of the Office of Alternative Medicine at NIH;
Charlotte R. Kerr, R.S.M., a nurse and acupuncturist, Traditional Acupuncture Institute;
Linnea Signe Larson, LCSW, LMFT, Associate Director, West Suburban Health Care, Center for Integrative Medicine, Oak Park, Illinois;
Dean Ornish, M.D., President and Director of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute;
Conchita M. Paz, M.D., a family practitioner and part time faculty member at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine;
Buford L. Rolin, Health Administrator for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians and former Chair of the National Indian Health Board; and
Julia Scott, President of the National Black Women's Health Project;
Xiaoming Tian, M.D., L.Ac, Director, Wildwood Acupuncture Center, Academy of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine, Wildwood Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland;
Donald W. Warren, D.D.S., Diplomate of the American Board of Head, Neck & Facial Pain, Clinton, Arkansas.

In a White House press release announcing the Commission appointments, President Clinton said "We need to be able to use information about alternative therapies to set the national agenda for the education and training of health care practitioners in this field and provide recommendations for advisable coverage policies for alternative therapies… As we enter into the 21st century, we need to get better information to ensure American families have access to the best and most cost-effective health care." The Commission is charged with developing a set of legislative and administrative recommendations to maximize the benefits of complementary and alternative medicine for the general public. Its report to Congress is due in March 2002, and must address the following:

(a) the education and training of health care practitioners in complementary and alternative medicine;

(b) coordinated research to increase knowledge about complementary and alternative medicine practices and products;

(c) the provision to health care professionals of reliable and useful information about complementary and alternative medicine that can be made readily accessible and understandable to the general public; and

(d) guidance for appropriate access to and delivery of complementary and alternative medicine.

At the initial Commission meeting on July 13, Peter Reinecke, Legislative Director for U.S. Senator Harkin, encouraged the Commission to develop a comprehensive plan for gathering public comment. How the final report is received, he noted, will greatly depend on the degree they succeed in doing so. According to Mr. Reinecke, Senator Harkin also encouraged the Commission to focus on the following:

1.   Training - What should the criteria be for eligibility for federal loans and grants?;
What can/should the federal government do to encourage continuing education?;
What can be done through Medicare support?;

2.   Research - What can be done to encourage greater public investment in CAM?
He also reminded the Commission that it is not necessary for them to comment on the NIH research agenda, as there is already an NCCAM Advisory Council charged with that responsibility;

3.   Delivery - What criteria should the federal government use for inclusion of CAM into federally supported health care programs?

4.   Oversight - There are many federal departments with an interest in CAM and ongoing activities. Is that at the appropriate level, and how can it be coordinated?

The Commission plans to hold a series of town meetings around the country, in addition to its regular meetings, in order to gather as much information as possible from a broad range of practitioners, researchers, consumers and academicians, among others. The first town meeting was September 8th in San Francisco; the second is scheduled for Seattle on October 30th. Other meetings are listed below. The Commission will also soon be launching a web site where visitors can read the minutes from prior meetings, identify opportunities for providing comment at future meetings, and eventually read the draft Commission report to Congress.

AAHF will be working closely with the Commission over the next two years, and we encourage all interested parties to submit testimony on issues they believe should be brought to their attention. The Commission's final report will help determine national public policy for CAM and will dramatically affect the future of health care in this country for years to come. Let's not waste this opportunity.

Meeting Dates:
September 8, 2000 San Francisco, CA Town Hall West Coast/Region IX
October 5-6, 2000 Washington, D.C. White House Commission Research Part I
October 30-31, 2000 Seattle, WA Town Hall West Coast/Region X
December 4-5, 2000 Washington, D.C. White House Commission Access & Delivery Part I
January 22-23, 2001 New York, N.Y. Town Hall North/Region II
February 20-21, 2001 Washington, D.C. White House Commission Information Dissemination
March 5-6, 2001 Washington, D.C. White House Commission Education/ Training
March 26, 2001 Albuquerque, NM Town Hall South West/ Region VI
April 9-10 Washington, D.C. White House Commission Research/ Part II
May 14-15, 2001 Washington, D.C. White House Commission Access & Delivery/ Part II
July 2-3, 2001 Washington, D.C. White House Commission Review Interim Report Draft
June 22, 2001 Atlanta, GA, Town Hall for the South/Region IV
November 5-6, 2001 Washington, D.C. White House Commission Review Final Report
December 6-7, 2001 Washington, D.C. White House Commission Final Full Meeting
March 2002 Washington, D.C. White House Commission Closing Event

If you are interested in more information, go to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy web site.