IHPC Applauds Leadership to Advance Whole-Person Integrative Healthcare
Polis, Coffman Launch Bipartisan Congressional Integrative Health and Wellness Caucus
WASHINGTON, October 26, 2017 (Newswire.com) - A new bipartisan Congressional effort, led by Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo., and Mike Coffman, R-Colo., will provide legislators and other policy and regulatory officials opportunity to understand how shifting focus in healthcare to prevention, health creation and health promotion can create cost savings while improving health outcomes for Americans. “Reps. Polis and Coffman are demonstrating exceptional leadership to address the rising costs of chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure, through educating and advocating for the adoption of integrative approaches that have shown improved outcomes with lower costs,” said Leonard A. Wisneski, MD, Chair of IHPC. “NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health has shown that more than a third of Americans use complementary or alternative medicines, even while access is often inconsistent and there is a lack of inclusion in federally funded programs. This Caucus can support policy and legislative action for change.”
The Congressional Caucus in the House of Representatives will serve as a nonpartisan educational forum for legislators to receive up-to-date information from experts related to best practices and new research, and to discuss legislative and administrative opportunities for integrative health. It will provide a platform for legislators to participate together and focus on the important opportunity that integrative health and wellness approaches offer across federally funded health programs, and find ways to make these solutions more available to the American people.
About the Integrative Health Policy Consortium
The Integrative Health Policy Consortium is the national policy and advocacy voice of integrative health and wellness healthcare professionals. Its Partner for Health members represents 24 health professional organizations as the voice of more than 600,000 healthcare providers. IHPC functions as a critical watchdog and monitor of federal agencies charged with overseeing America’s health and health research needs, working towards eliminating barriers to health. IHPC Chair Dr. Wisneski is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at George Washington University Medical Center, Adjunct Faculty at Georgetown University, and is on the faculty at The University of Colorado. He has published over 30 scientific articles and a landmark textbook, “The Scientific Basis of Integrative Health.”
Source: Integrative Health Policy Consortium