Abstracts

Rising health care costs have been pushing increases in health benefit plans for some time. Evidence is now emerging that adding or enhancing adjunctive care services may serve to reduce overall costs. Over recent years there has been a significant increase in the quantity and quality of research related to complementary medicine. Numerous published studies have documented effective approaches for dealing with challenging conditions that members of benefit plans face. Much of the evidence relates to treating chronic conditions that can be major cost drivers within benefit plans, and includes companion studies establishing the economics associated with adjunctive care. This article highlights the findings from four randomized clinical trials conducted in partnership with a major Canadian corporation and a major union, and examines public polling data suggesting that the savings identified can be anticipated in other settings.