United Kingdom
Medical Insurance Companies and National Health Service
In general traditional and complementary medicine have to be paid out of pocket by most patients who opt for it, as compared to conventional medicine where it is covered by medical insurance and offered for low fees by government hospitals in many countries. Presently, there are many medical insurance companies that will cover homeopathic treatments in many countries.
Homeopathy is also offered under the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK and this is available either by referral from a General Practitioner giving services under the NHS or from a General Practitioner who integrates Homeopathic treatment into their practice.[1]
Currently also there are many Medical Insurance companies in the UK which offer cover for Homeopathic treatment.
Among the Insurance companies that offer cover for Homeopathic treatment in the UK are the following companies.[2][3]
| Name of company | Website | Contact number |
| Aviva | http://www.aviva.co.uk/ | +44800 015 1013 |
| Best Health Insurance Company | http://www.besthealthinsurance.co.uk/ | +44207 202 1390 |
| Simply Health | https://www.simplyhealth.co.uk | +44800 980 7890 |
| Birmingham Hospital Saturday Fund | www.bhsf.co.uk | +44121 454 3601 |
| Cigna UK | http://www.cigna.co.uk/ | +441475 492 187 |
| National Deposit Friendly Society | www.nationalfriendly.co.uk | +44117 973 9003 |
| Healthshield | http://www.healthshield.co.uk | +441270 588555 |
United States
In the US, there are doctors who prescribe homeopathic medicine and these doctors are reimbursable via health insurance companies. Besides medical doctors, there are other licensed health professionals who also prescribe homeopathic remedies. These include osteopaths, chiropractors, acupuncturists as well as naturopaths.[4] Health insurance companies for the most part, with a few exceptions will cover the homeopathic treatments of these licensed health providers. The homeopaths that are not licensed are not likely to be covered by the health insurance companies.[5] For some companies where health care in provided, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) are likely to be covered by the company insurance, but, it may be subject to certain restrictions such as limited numbers of visits or paying extra, a fee known as CAM rider to cover the CAM therapies.[5]
There are more than 100 health insurance companies in the USA. Among the top American Health Insurance companies are as follows:
| Name of company | Website | Contact number |
| Aetna | http://www.aetna.com/ | 1-800-624-0756 |
| Great American | http://www.greatamericaninsurance.com/ | N/a |
| Kaiser Permenante | https://www.kaiserpermanente.org/ | N/a |
| Insurance Care Direct | http://www.insurancecaredirect.com/ | 1-866-792-5976 |
| Business Health Insurance | http://www.sbhi.net/ | 1 -866-961-8466 |
| Private Health Associates US | http://www.phahealth.us/ | 1-866-360-3543 |
| Humana | http://www.humana.com/medicare/ | 1-800-486-2620 |
| Blue cross blue shield | http://www.bcbs.com/ | N/a |
European Countries
In the European Union countries, most of the health care delivery is by the state through various funding and just a small proportion is in the form of fee for service.[6] The insurance is either compulsory insurance or private voluntary insurance by a small percentage of the population. Most of the funding for health is by public taxation. There is also cost sharing by patients in a co-payment system where the patient has to pay a certain percentage of the pharmaceuticals used. This includes homeopathic remedies and other traditional and complementary medicine, which is prescribed by registered medical practitioners whether they are doctors or other traditional, and complementary medicine practitioners, which are licenses to practice. In a number of European countries including France and Germany, only registered practitioners can prescribe homeopathic medicine which is reimbursed by the health insurance.[7]
Australia
In Australia, almost all private insurance companies offer rebates for major traditional and complementary medicine therapies.[8] This trend is part of a general movement in Australia of a move to recognise and incorporate a lot of the complementary and alternative therapies into health care since there is a public demand for it. Australia is a country which has a universal health insurance called Medicare financed through income tax and an income tax related levy.[9] Medicare does not cover Homeopathic treatment but visits to registered Homeopaths are reimbursed by most health funds.[10]
The following are some of the top health insurance funding companies in Australia.[9]
| Name of company | Website | Contact |
| CBHS Health Fund Limited | www.cbhs.com.au | +611300 654 123 |
| International Medical Assistance Network (IMAN) | www.iman.com.au | +61 1 800 22 11 |
| Medibank private | www.medibank.com.au | +61 132 331 / |
| Australian Health Insurance Association | www.ahia.org.au | +61 02 6202 1000 |
| Teacher’s Union Health | www.tuh.com.au | +61 1300 360 701 |
| Central West Health Cover | www.centralwesthealth.com.au | +61 133 206 |
New Zealand
In New Zealand homeopathic treatment does not have state funding as in the United Kingdom and it is not covered under the National Health Scheme.[11] However, since there is a fee for every treatment even though it is partially funded, people still go for homeopathic treatment which they have to pay out of pocket if their practitioner is a non medical Homeopath which is most of the Homeopaths in New Zealand. For doctors who practice Homeopathy, the funding would cover some of the cost because the health care system covers treatment by partial funding.[12]
Homeopathic remedies are not in the list of reimbursable medicine.[13] Private insurance companies only reimburse for visits to a medically qualified homeopath.
Among the top New Zealand Health Insurance companies are as follows:
| Name of company | Website | Contact |
| Southern Cross Health Society | http://www.southerncross.co.nz/society | +64 9 356 0900 |
| Medical Insurance Society New Zealand | http://www.medicals.co.nz/ | +64-4-478 8863 |
| NZ Medical | http://www.nzmedical.co.nz/ | +64 800 269543 |
India
In India, health insurance companies do not cover homeopathic and other alternative treatment however; there are moves by the Department of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) [14] to approach the top insurance companies namely Star Health, Max Bupa and Apollo DKV Insurance in order to propose that these companies cover complementary medicine treatment. However, since homeopathic treatment is available for free in government homeopathy clinics and offered at a low fee by private practitioners it is affordable to the general public even without insurance cover.
Pakistan
In Pakistan, an international insurance company called Pacific Prime offers insurance cover for expatriates. It says on its website that alternative and complementary therapies are covered in its plan. Since Homeopathy is considered a complementary therapy this means that this insurance covers homeopathic treatment.[15]
Homeopathic treatment is offered by government clinics where the treatment is free.[16] Above insurance company can be contacted as follows:
| Name of company | Website | Contact |
| Pacific Prime | http://www.pacificprime.com/countries/pakistan/ | Head office: |
Japan
In Japan, insurance cover only applies to registered medical practitioners and therefore consultation with a medical homeopath registered under the Japanese Medical Act is covered by National Health Insurance.[17]
Less that 8 percent of medical doctors offer homeopathic treatment and it is Kampo, the traditional medicine of Japan that is the most widely practiced complementary and alternative medicine in Japan. Many Kampo medicines are listed in the Japanese National Health Insurance list and are reimbursable. Homeopathic medicine however, has yet to be available under the Japanese National Health Insurance.[18] The Japanese National Health Insurance is on a cost sharing basis where the patient pays a percentage of the costs, in addition to having an amount deducted from salary for the insurance premium payments. Medicine cost is also on a shared basis.
Malaysia
In Malaysia, there is no insurance cover for Traditional and Complementary Medicine Modalities.[19] As is the case in Pakistan and other Asian countries, Pacific Prime Insurance Company offers insurance cover for alternative and complementary therapies in Malaysia for expatriates living in Malaysia.[20] As far as health care delivery is concerned, Government clinics offer health care for a minimal sum to all citizens and specialist care is also heavily subsidized. There is a move to introduce Traditional and Complementary therapies in Government clinics but Homeopathy is not yet being offered.[21]
Thus, as far as insurance cover for homeopathic treatment goes, insurance companies are only just beginning to address the issue and some companies are already covering homeopathic treatment. It may be found that homeopathic treatment for chronic diseases is less costly than conventional therapies.[22]
References
- British Homeopathic Association. An Overview of NHS Homeopathy. [Online]. Available from: http://www.britishhomeopathic.org [Accessed 20th Dec 2010].
- Omar Harpaz. Health Insurance Cover for Homeopathic Treatment New!. Available from: http://www.omerharpaz.co.uk [Online]. Accessed 20th Dec 2010].
- Society of Homeopath. Funding Your Treatment. [Online]. Available from: http://www.homeopathy-soh.org. [Accessed 20th Dec 2010].
- Healthy.net. Finding Professional Homeopathic Care – Will Insurance Cover Your Homeopathic Care. [Online]. Available from: http://www.healthy.net. [Accessed 20th Dec 2010]
- NCCAM. Paying for CAM treatment. [Online]. Available from: http://nccam.nih.gov/health/financial/. [Accessed 20th Dec 2010].
- European Parliament. Healthcare System in the EU: A Comparative Study. [Online]. Available from: http://www.europarl.europa.eu [Accessed 20th Dec 2010]. p. 5, 17-19.
- European Public Health Alliance. Integrated Health Care in Europe. Available from: http://www.epha.org/a/516. [Accessed 20th Dec 2010].
- McCabe P. Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Australia: A Contemporary View. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. 2005;11: 28–31
- Australian Health Director. Private Health Insurance. [Online]. Available from: http://www.healthdirectory.com.au/Health_insurance/ [Accessed 20th Dec 2010].
- Scott S. Are Patients being Hoodwinked? ABC News. [Online]. Available from: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/23/2828304.htm. [Accessed 20th Dec 2010]
- Boniface L. Time to Prove it. New Zealand Listener. [Online]. 2010 March 20-26; Vol. 223 (3645). Available from: http://www.listener.co.nz [Accessed 20th Dec 2010].
- Cummings J., Mays N. . New Zealand’s Primary Health Care Strategy: Early Effects of the New Financing and Payment System for General Practice and Future Challenges. Health Economics, Policy and Law. [Online] Available from: http://journals.cambridge.org. [Accessed 19th June 2012]
- PHARMAC. Pharmaceuticals Schedule. [Online]. Available from: http://www.pharmac.govt.nz/Schedule. [Accessed 20th Dec 2010].
- Segupta D. Health Cover May Include Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathy. Economic Times.[Online]. Available from: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com [Accessed 15th Dec 2010].
- Pacific Prime. Pakistan Health Insurance. [Online]. Available from: http://www.pacificprime.com. [Accessed 15th Dec 2010].
- Wholehealthnow. Homeopathy in Pakistan. [Online]. Available from: http://www.wholehealthnow.com. [Accessed 2nd Nov 2011].
- Fukawa T. Public Health Insurance in Japan. [Online] Available from: http://unpan1.un.org [Accessed 15th Dec 2010]. p 9-11.
- Suzuki N. Complementary and Alternative Medicine: A Japanese Perspective. Evidenced-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2004 July; 1(2): 113-118. [Online]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov [Accessed 19th June 2012]
- Globinmed. Malaysia’s TM/CAM System. [Online]. Available from: http://www.globinmed.com [Accessed 15th Dec 2010].
- Pacific Prime. Malaysian Health Insurance. [Online]. Available from http://www.pacificprime.com [Accessed 15th Dec 2010].
- A. Ghani R. Integrating Traditional and Complementary Medicine Services into National Health Care: Malaysian Experience. NORPHCAM Research Conference. 2009 Oct 17; Brisbane, Australia. [Online]. Available from: http://norphcam.org. [Accessed 15th Dec 2010].
- Witt C, Keil T, Selim D, Roll S, Vance W, Wegscheider K, Willich SN. Outcome and Costs of Homoeopathic and Conventional Treatment Strategies: A Comparative Cohort Study in Patients with Chronic Disorders. Complementary Therapies in Medicine. 2005 June;13 (2): 79-86.
