Fwd: Acupuncture Board in California

[Guest guest]

 

 

> Resent-<

> Jack Miller <jmiller

> April 25, 2005 4:45:41 PM PDT

> <faculty-sd

> Acupuncture Board in California

>

> Senator Figueroa (D-Fremont) introduced a bill to allow the Acupuncture

> Board (AB) to sunset, which would give oversight of our profession to

> the

> Dept of Consumer Affairs (DCA). We support this or the reconstitution

> of the

> board with new members who will focus on consumer protection instead of

> micro-management of the colleges, increasing hours, requiring a

> residency,

> etc., etc, etc. We need regulators who will be objective instead of

> supporting barriers to entry into this profession. If sun-setting the

> AB is

> the way to send the message that our board has been dysfunctional,

> then it's

> probably time to try that. Everyone I spoke to at DCA had a much

> clearer,

> much healthier concept of what it means to regulate a profession and

> administer an exam. I think our exams will be much better under DCA. I

> don't

> think DCA would support requiring a residency before you take the

> exam. They

> recognize that the role of the regulatory board is to support and test

> for

> minimum entry level standards. The schools themselves have continually,

> voluntarily increased standards beyond that to be competitive in the

> market.

> That is how things are supposed to work.

>

> You will probably hear that sun-setting the AB is an attack on the

> profession by the legislature. This is NOT TRUE. If you don't believe

> me,

> call Senator Figueroa's office. We met with Senator Figueroa's

> representatives in person last week. The Senator is a supporter of

> acupuncture. They assured us that acupuncture is safe and

> well-thought-of in

> the legislature. They said that we don't look good when say things

> like,

> " acupuncture is under attack " when it is just the board that is being

> taken

> to task. We lose credibility for when we try to get good stuff, like

> insurance parity, etc, from the legislators. They said when the other

> medical boards have problems, their respective associations get right

> on it

> and work with the legislators to see how they can help improve things.

> They

> don't attack the legislators in a knee jerk fashion. We need to stop

> this.

> We need to be constructive, if we want to be taken seriously.

>

> We are certainly all entitled to our opinions and I can easily see why

> we

> wouldn't want our board sun-setted. But, we need to make our cases

> based on

> facts, not hype. It was a tough call for me to support this legislation

> since I would never do anything that I thought would harm my

> profession.

> However, after hearing all the negatives about this board I believe we

> need

> to try something different. If the legislators and governors could

> promise

> us more objective, fairer, impartial board members, I'd be happy to

> support

> reconstituting the Acupuncture Board. Until then, I am confident

> acupuncture

> will continue to flourish and prosper in this state regardless of who

> our

> regulatory entity is.

>

> Anyway, the Figueroa bill has passed the Senate sub-committee.

>

> I look forward to your return for Spring semester.

>

> Very best wishes,

> Jack

>

>

>

>

> Jack Miller, L.Ac., M.A. (Educ.)

> President/CEO

> Pacific College of Oriental Medicine

> jmiller

> www.pacificcollege.edu

>

> 7445 Mission Valley Rd.

> San Diego CA 92108

> 619-574-6909

>

> 915 Broadway, 3rd floor

> NY NY 10010

> 212-982-3456

>

> 3646 N. Broadway, 2nd floor

> Chicago, IL 60613

> 773-477-4822

>

> " The Mission of Pacific College of Oriental Medicine is to critically

> assess

> and present the theories and practices of Oriental medicine, together

> with

> its traditional and modern derivations, in order that its graduates may

> deliver effective patient care. "

>

>

>

 

Chinese Herbs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

[from Jack Miller's letter .......]

> > You will probably hear that sun-setting the AB is an attack on the

> > profession by the legislature. This is NOT TRUE. If you don't believe

> > me,

> > call Senator Figueroa's office. We met with Senator Figueroa's

> > representatives in person last week. The Senator is a supporter of

> > acupuncture. They assured us that acupuncture is safe and

> > well-thought-of in

> > the legislature.

 

If Mr. Miller chooses to believe such fraudulent misrepresentation, it will not

be without informed peers bringing the facts to light. He conveniently made

no mention of the fact that the EXCELLENTLY revised SB 356 was defeated

4-1 today by these supposed supporters. If the schools / educators are

complicit in dragging down the profession due to their own self-serving

qualms with some of the Board's actions, it will be to their own undoing as

well. Take a guess how many students are going to pay current tuition rates

for schooling that is threatened with being ENTIRELY UNNECCESSARY. I

will elaborate further in another post.

 

Joe Reid

http://www.jreidomd.blogspot.com

 

BILL NUMBER: SB 356 AMENDED

BILL TEXT

AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 18, 2005

INTRODUCED BY Senator Alarcon

FEBRUARY 16, 2005

An act to amend Section 4927 Sections 4927

and 4937 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to

acupuncture.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 356, as amended, Alarcon. Acupuncture.

.. . . . . . This bill would define Chinese or oriental massage

for purposes of the Acupuncture Licensure Act .

The bill would also authorize the holder of an acupuncturist's

license to order diagnostic tests commonly accepted in the

medical community and to perform or prescribe electrical

stimulation.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no

yes . State-mandated local program: no.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and declares that some

health insurance plans are not covering legal and lawful acupuncture

procedures performed by qualified licensed acupuncturists. It is the

intent of the Legislature, in the interests of public health and

safety, to specifically clarify and express to California insurance

carriers and providers, for the purposes of reimbursement, that

electrical stimulation, diagnostic tests, and Chinese or oriental

massage are legal and payable.

.. . . . . . (e) " Chinese or oriental massage " ( " Tui Na " ) means the use of

pressure techniques, through massage, manipulation, and mobilization

of surface tissue and muscle for the therapeutic objective of

stimulation for proper body function. " Chinese or oriental massage "

also means " manual therapy " or " myofascial release " as used in

western terms and treatment procedures.

SEC. 3. ....... © To order diagnostic tests commonly accepted in the

medical community.

.. . . . . (g) For purposes of this section, " Chinese or oriental massage "

(Tui Na) means the use of pressure techniques through massage,

manipulation, mobilization, and electrical stimulation of surface

tissue and muscle for the therapeutic objective of stimulation for

proper body function. " Chinese or oriental massage " also means

" manual therapy " or " myofascial release " as used in western terms and

treatment procedures.

[Guest guest]

 

Thanks for posting this as often we do not hear what the CA schools position

on things is. Having said that, this does seem to me to be a bit extreme.

I am not sure why new members are not just appointed and others eliminated.

We should be careful of what we wish for, we just might get it (old Chinese

proverb or curse). I have not heard any mentioning of how the DCA intends

to run things. Nor has there been any mentioning of why eliminate us and

not all the other boards as well (Arnold's original plan). I do believe

that there needs to be a change, just not convinced that this extreme of one

is needed. This kind of reminds me of the social security scare Bush is

trying to sell us.

 

 

Mike W. Bowser, L Ac

 

 

 

> <

>

>cha

> Fwd: Acupuncture Board in California

>Mon, 25 Apr 2005 17:40:25 -0700

>

>

>

>

>

> > Resent-<

> > Jack Miller <jmiller

> > April 25, 2005 4:45:41 PM PDT

> > <faculty-sd

> > Acupuncture Board in California

> >

> > Senator Figueroa (D-Fremont) introduced a bill to allow the Acupuncture

> > Board (AB) to sunset, which would give oversight of our profession to

> > the

> > Dept of Consumer Affairs (DCA). We support this or the reconstitution

> > of the

> > board with new members who will focus on consumer protection instead of

> > micro-management of the colleges, increasing hours, requiring a

> > residency,

> > etc., etc, etc. We need regulators who will be objective instead of

> > supporting barriers to entry into this profession. If sun-setting the

> > AB is

> > the way to send the message that our board has been dysfunctional,

> > then it's

> > probably time to try that. Everyone I spoke to at DCA had a much

> > clearer,

> > much healthier concept of what it means to regulate a profession and

> > administer an exam. I think our exams will be much better under DCA. I

> > don't

> > think DCA would support requiring a residency before you take the

> > exam. They

> > recognize that the role of the regulatory board is to support and test

> > for

> > minimum entry level standards. The schools themselves have continually,

> > voluntarily increased standards beyond that to be competitive in the

> > market.

> > That is how things are supposed to work.

> >

> > You will probably hear that sun-setting the AB is an attack on the

> > profession by the legislature. This is NOT TRUE. If you don't believe

> > me,

> > call Senator Figueroa's office. We met with Senator Figueroa's

> > representatives in person last week. The Senator is a supporter of

> > acupuncture. They assured us that acupuncture is safe and

> > well-thought-of in

> > the legislature. They said that we don't look good when say things

> > like,

> > " acupuncture is under attack " when it is just the board that is being

> > taken

> > to task. We lose credibility for when we try to get good stuff, like

> > insurance parity, etc, from the legislators. They said when the other

> > medical boards have problems, their respective associations get right

> > on it

> > and work with the legislators to see how they can help improve things.

> > They

> > don't attack the legislators in a knee jerk fashion. We need to stop

> > this.

> > We need to be constructive, if we want to be taken seriously.

> >

> > We are certainly all entitled to our opinions and I can easily see why

> > we

> > wouldn't want our board sun-setted. But, we need to make our cases

> > based on

> > facts, not hype. It was a tough call for me to support this legislation

> > since I would never do anything that I thought would harm my

> > profession.

> > However, after hearing all the negatives about this board I believe we

> > need

> > to try something different. If the legislators and governors could

> > promise

> > us more objective, fairer, impartial board members, I'd be happy to

> > support

> > reconstituting the Acupuncture Board. Until then, I am confident

> > acupuncture

> > will continue to flourish and prosper in this state regardless of who

> > our

> > regulatory entity is.

> >

> > Anyway, the Figueroa bill has passed the Senate sub-committee.

> >

> > I look forward to your return for Spring semester.

> >

> > Very best wishes,

> > Jack

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > Jack Miller, L.Ac., M.A. (Educ.)

> > President/CEO

> > Pacific College of Oriental Medicine

> > jmiller

> > www.pacificcollege.edu

> >

> > 7445 Mission Valley Rd.

> > San Diego CA 92108

> > 619-574-6909

> >

> > 915 Broadway, 3rd floor

> > NY NY 10010

> > 212-982-3456

> >

> > 3646 N. Broadway, 2nd floor

> > Chicago, IL 60613

> > 773-477-4822

> >

> > " The Mission of Pacific College of Oriental Medicine is to critically

> > assess

> > and present the theories and practices of Oriental medicine, together

> > with

> > its traditional and modern derivations, in order that its graduates may

> > deliver effective patient care. "

> >

> >

> >

>

>Chinese Herbs

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>