Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain: Recommendations to Medicare/Medicaid from the Society for Acupuncture Research.

This column takes our series from the Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR) in a new direction. Recently, the U.S. government's Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a call for public comment related to the government's exploration of inclusion of acupuncture and licensed acupuncturists in federal payment schemes. The decision of SAR's research leaders to engage with policymakers is forward thinking, especially as much dialogue and many research needs related to acupuncture and other integrative health practices and practitioners are shifting toward implementation concerns. SAR's engagement in this arena is also reflected in the organization's 2019 conference June 27–29, 2019 in Burlington, Vermont: “Acupuncture Research, Health Care Policy, & Community Health…Closing the Loop.” The author team includes the entire SAR Board, led by president-elect Jun J. Mao, MD, and current copresidents Robert T. Davis, MS, LAc, and Richard Harris, PhD. This is also a moment to congratulate Harris on his selection to the U.S. National Institutes of Health National Advisory Council on Complementary and Integrative Health.—