Washington Association of Acupuncture & Eastern Medicine

02/04/2025

❗Your support must be logged by 12:29 PM TODAY❗

To note your position:
➡Click the link below or search "Washington HB 1589 2025" in your preferred browser.
➡On the right side of the bill info are green tabs. Use the second tab from the top: "Sign Up to Testify | Submit Written Testimony."
➡Click on the link: "I would like my position noted for the legislative record."
➡Select "Pro" for position and complete the rest of the required information.

📓More Information📓
HB 1589 preserves patients’ access to care by requiring insurance companies to engage in good faith negotiations with independent health care providers. “Good faith” means the insurer must:
👍Offer a meaningful opportunity to negotiate the terms of the contract
👍Provide a contact person for negotiations
👍Indicate how the contract is different from the previous contract
👍Share an easily accessible proposed fee schedule prior to contracting

HB 1589 also prohibits:
❌Requiring providers to take discounts that are not part of the original contract
❌Take-it-or-leave-it clauses

🔗 to note your position: https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1589&Year=2025&Initiative=false

11/27/2024

Not a member? Join us!

WAEMA provides year-round advocacy for professional privileges and rights. (70% of member dues directly pay for lobbying & legislation fees, the rests goes directly to administration & technology fees.)

Invest in Your Professional Advantage: WAEMA’s professional development opportunities give professionals ways to connect, learn, and advance their careers.

Keep Up-To-Date with Industry Opportunities, Trends, and Developments: Receive regular updates and current news from the WAEMA Office.

Build Consumer Awareness of and Confidence in Your Practice: Belonging to a professional association provides greater consumer confidence. WAEMA membership includes membership in the American Society of Acupuncture (ASA).

MyWaema.org/Join

10/01/2024

The Southeast has been devastated by Hurricane Helene. There are a number of acupuncture schools, practitioners, and suppliers in that region. We are getting reports that schools are without power, but buildings have escaped damage. Golden Needle appears to be okay. AWB and other state associations are mobilizing to aid/send supplies. See here for ways you can help.

As communities in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina begin to realize the impacts of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Helene, it's crucial to come together and support one another. For a start. here are some resources for volunteering and assistance:

Volunteer Opportunities

1. American Red Cross of Tennessee and North Carolina
- Red Cross Volunteer: https://www.redcross.org/volunteer
- Sign up to help with shelter operations, recovery efforts, and other vital services.

2. United Way of Greater Knoxville
- United Way Knoxville https://www.unitedwayknoxville.org
- Offers volunteer opportunities and can connect you with local agencies in need of support.

3. Community Action Agencies
- Contact local agencies in your area for volunteer opportunities related to recovery efforts.

Disaster Assistance Resources

1. FEMA Disaster Assistance
- FEMA.gov https://www.fema.gov
- Individuals affected can apply for federal assistance and find information on local disaster recovery centers.

2. Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA)
- TEMA https://www.tn.gov/tema
- Provides updates, recovery resources, and assistance programs specific to Tennessee residents.

3. North Carolina Emergency Management （NCEM)
- NCEmergency.gov https://www.ncdps.gov
- Access information on disaster recovery, assistance programs, and local emergency contacts.

4. Local Health Departments
- Reach out to your local health department for information on health services, shelters, and recovery resources.

5. Remote Area Medical is a mobile clinic service offering medical, dental, vision and general are for our communities.
- https://www.ramusa.org/

HURRICANE HELENE -
VITAL PUBLIC INFORMATION AND LINKS TO MAKE DONATIONS TO BENEFIT VICTIMS:
**Please read this message in its entirety for all information. This is not a complete list of organizations or public info, as I wanted to get the word out as soon as possible. More info will be added as it comes available**

*These organizations are deploying now for rescue and recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene:

**NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS FOR DONATIONS:

Operation BBQ Relief:
https://operationbbqrelief.org/

Mercury One:
https://mercuryone.org/

Operation Blessing:
https://www.ob.org/

Gideon Rescue:
https://gideonrescue.org/

Samaritan's Purse:
https://www.samaritanspurse.org/

Team Rubicon:
https://teamrubiconusa.org/

Churches of Christ:
https://www.disasterreliefeffort.org/news

Mercy Chefs:
https://mercychefs.com/

Marco Patriots:
https://www.marcopatriots.org/

**NATIONAL INFO:
FEMA Helpline
1-800-621-3362, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. (in your time zone), 7 days a week. Hours may be longer during high disaster activity. If you use a video relay service (VRS), captioned telephone (CTS), or other service, give FEMA your number for that service
https://www.disasterassistance.gov/

**ROAD CLOSURE INFORMATION:

Florida:
https://fl511.com/

GEORGIA:
https://511ga.org/

SOUTH CAROLINA:
https://www.511sc.org/ =7.392317422778981&lon=-80.72462271068872&lat=33.54446902822535&dmsg&rest&cams&other&cong&wthr&acon&incd&trfc

NORTH CAROLINA:
https://www.ncdot.gov/travel-maps/traffic-travel/511-information/Pages/default.aspx

TENNESSEE:
https://smartway.tn.gov/traffic?features=incident,traffic&position=36.42072686,-86.02121666,11

VIRGINIA:
https://www.511virginia.org/

OHIO:
https://ohgo.com/

**EMERGECNY MANAGEMENT:

FLORIDA:
850-815-4000
https://www.floridadisaster.org/

GEORGIA:
(404) 635-7200
https://gema.georgia.gov/

NORTH CAROLINA:
919-710-8885
https://www.ncdps.gov/our-organization/emergency-management

SOUTH CAROLINA:
803-737-8500
https://www.scemd.org/

TENNESSEE:
(615) 741-0001
https://www.tn.gov/tema.html

VIRGINIA:
(804) 267-7600
https://www.vaemergency.gov/

OHIO:
(614) 889-7150
https://ema.ohio.gov/

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES:
Operation BBQ Relief:
https://operationbbqrelief.org/volunteer-obr/

**DIRECTORY OF ANIMAL SHELTERS:

FLORIDA:
https://www.causeiq.com/directory/animal-shelters-list/florida-state/

GEORGIA:
https://www.healthycanines.org/georgia-animal-shelters

NORTH CAROLINA:
https://www.bringfido.com/resource/animal_shelters/state/north_carolina/

SOUTH CAROLINA:
https://www.bringfido.com/resource/animal_shelters/state/south_carolina/

TENNESSEE:
https://www.causeiq.com/directory/animal-shelters-list/tennessee-state/

VIRGINIA:
https://www.bringfido.com/resource/animal_shelters/state/virginia/

**MISC:

Florida Commerce Private Sector Hotline: 850 815-4925 for help with assessing damage. You can also self-report physical and economic damage caused by Hurricane Helene at floridadisaster.biz by selecting Hurricane Helene in the dropdown menu. Survey responses will allow the state to expedite Hurricane Helene recovery efforts.

United Way's 211: Calling 211 can connect you with a wide array of help available to you. You can get info on school closures, food and nutrition programs, financial aid, natural disaster relief and much more, including referral to local social services.

American Red Cross: 800-733-2767. The Red Cross has already moved relief supplies, volunteers and food into the state and opened shelters. You can also get help finding loved ones missing because of the storm, get more information here.

Disaster Legal Hotline: 833-514-2940. Available for eligible residents 24/7 to help you manage FEMA assistance, small business assistance, insurance claims, contractor issues and more.

Hurricane Crisis Clean Up Hotline: 844-965-1386. Volunteer organizations will remove storm debris and assist with other storm clean up at no charge.

Salvation Army Florida: 800-SAL-ARMY. The Salvation Army is ready to set up mobile feeding units for first responders and victims and trained staff and volunteers from multiple Salvation Army locations will be spreading across the state to help. Get more information at disaster.salvationarmy.org.

Samaritan's Purse hotline: 1-833-747-1234, provides free assistance for homeowners affected by Helene. Volunteers may be able to help with flood cleanup, debris removal, temporary roof tarping, etc.

Florida Baptist Disaster Relief Public Assistance: 904-253-0502 or text Helene to 27123. Free assistance to homeowners affected by Helene, volunteers can help with cleanup.

World Central Kitchen: Multiple WCK food truck partners and their Rapid Response Field Kitchen have been prepositioned in the Tallahassee area and will be providing meals to first responders and victims. You can sign up for their newsletter or follow them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook for real-time updates and locations.

*Florida Insurance companies https://floir.com/docs-sf/default-source/hurricane-season-resources/pc-insurer-contacts-20240531.pdf

Donations and Support

- Monetary Donations: Consider donating to local charities and organizations actively involved in disaster relief.
- Material Donations: Contact local shelters or disaster response organizations to see what supplies they need.
- Reduced-Fee/Free Trauma-informed Treatment: If your a local acupuncturist/TCM practitioner who has the means to help. Consider doing some free or reduced-fee acupuncture for people dealing with ongoing recovery fatigue and trauma.

The road to recovery may be long, but together we can rebuild our communities. Whether through volunteering, donating, or spreading the word, every effort counts. Stay safe and support one another. Please reach out to us via messenger or email info@asacu.org to let us know how we can help.

American Society of Acupuncturists - ASA
North Carolina Society of Acupuncture and Asian Medicine （NCSAAM) Alise Beccaria
Tennessee Acupuncture Council (TAC) AlexandraRussell
Georgia Association of Acupuncture and Asian Medicine (GAAAM）
Florida State Oriental Medical Association (FSOMA) (FSOMA)
Acupuncture Society of Virginia（ASVA）

09/01/2024

Join us on Sept 18th!

Hey there! 👋

American Society of Acupuncturists is hosting a townhall on New Legal Developments Affecting Acupuncture Practices! 🥳

Join the Town Hall for an informative session about:

Corporate Transparency Act.
Federal Trade Commission’s Rule Banning Non-Competes and
HIPAA Rule Change Regarding Reproductive Health Care.

What more? Earn 1 Free PDA point (Ethics)! 🎉

For more details and registration, visit https://asacu.org/upcoming-webinar-new-legal-developments-affecting-acupuncture-practices/

06/24/2024

The pandemic caused a lot of anxiety around just living life. Its summer in the northern hemisphere and that means a lot of travel...which can cause that anxiety to rise!

This double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial had 56 participants (21–82 years) with anxiety diagnosed by 3 different anxiety scales (BAI, GAD-7 and OASIS) used a 30-min acupuncture session, once a week for 10 week.

Results?
The findings showed an improvement in anxiety, as assessed by BAI, GAD-7 and OASIS, after the 5th session of acupuncture (p < 0.05) and electroacupuncture (p < 0.05) and the 10th session for both techniques (p < 0.001).

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9760487/

Feeling anxious about travel, upticks in Covid, or just general feelings of anxiety? Go see your local acupuncturist!

If you're in Washington state, you can go to our Find An Acupuncturist page at

https://mywaema.org/practitioners/.

06/05/2024

"The study indicates that a course of acupuncture treatment may lower blood levels of inflammatory proteins called cytokines that are linked to heart disease, the No. 1 cause of death in people with RA."

Of those who had acupuncture, 341 had a stroke over the study period, compared to 605 patients in the other group. That translated into a 43% lower risk of stroke."

https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2024-02-14/acupuncture-may-lower-stroke-risk-in-rheumatoid-arthritis-patients

American Society of Acupuncturists - ASA

US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. Track elected officials, research health conditions, and find news you can use in politics, business, health, and education.

05/15/2024

Love acupuncture and are NOT an acupuncturist? NCCAOM is looking for a member of the public to join their Board of Commissioners.

🔍 Call for Public Members! Join the NCCAOM Board of Commissioners 🌟

Are you a consumer of acupuncture or Chinese herbal medicine with a passion for integrative medicine? The NCCAOM is seeking Public Members to serve on our Board of Commissioners. If you have leadership experience, financial acumen, and a desire to shape the future of acupuncture certification, we want to hear from you! Apply now and become an agent of change in the field of integrative healthcare.

Details and application submission instructions here - https://bit.ly/3QG4MTv
If you have any questions, please contact Melissa Dow, Manager of Volunteer Development and Special Projects at volunteermanager@thenccaom.org.

05/14/2024