2019年4月3日美国众议院议员赵美心第二届世界中医针灸论坛闭幕式演讲

来源：海外华人中医论坛2019-04-05 [医疗] [医疗资讯]

American Alliance of Acupuncture Convention Closing Ceremony ,Rep. Judy Chu,第二届世界中医针灸论坛闭幕式演讲, 美国众议院议员赵美心

Hello! I’m so excited to see so many of you, from all around the United States, here in Washington D.C.to advocate on behalf of acupuncture! It’s truly inspiring to see people from so many different backgrounds and from so many parts of the country using their time to come to the capital to speak to their representatives and talk about why we should be expanding access to acupuncture for all patients. I especially want to thank my good friend, Michelle Lau, for all of her efforts to put this conference together!

大家好！ 我很高兴看到你们这么多人从美国各地聚首华盛顿特区为中医针灸发声！ 真的很开心看到有这么多来自不同背景和不同地方的人来到首都华盛顿，一起探讨为什么我们应该扩大针灸的覆盖率，让所有患者都可以获得针灸治疗。 在此我还想特别感谢我的好朋友刘美嫦，是她努力促成了此次会议的顺利召开。

I’m especially excited to have you all here to support my bill, H.R. 1182, the Acupuncture for Our Heroes Act. This bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system to cover acupuncture for all veterans who want access to it. regardless of where they live. We specifically chose to focus on the veteran population, because in Congress, there is great bipartisan support for the veteran community. And once a benefit, like acupuncture, is approved for veterans. it is easier to expand that benefit to other populations, like seniors. So to move a bill like the Acupuncture for Our Heroes Act forward would truly be a great victory.

我很高兴你们大家都支持我的法案，H.R. 1182. 即针灸治疗英雄法案。该法案要求退伍军人事务部的医疗保健系统能够将针灸治疗纳入其中，让所有的退伍军人，不管住在哪里，都可以享受到针灸治疗。我们选择专注于退伍军人，是因为在国会，两党对这一特殊群体都有很大的支持。 一旦像针灸这样的治疗被批准用于退伍军人群体，将来就更容易将其扩展到其他如老年人群体。 因此，成功推动像针灸治疗英雄法案这样的法案将会是一个伟大的胜利。

And it’s an especially exciting time to be here. because Democrats have just retaken the House! One of my primary goals this Congress is to request that the Committee on Veterans Affairs. which oversees veterans healthcare issues and is chaired by Congressmember Mark Takano of Riverside, California. hold a hearing on how alternative therapies like acupuncture can help veterans. In Congress, there are many steps for a bill to become a law. First, the bill must be introduced, which we’ve done! Second, the bill must gain cosponsors, which means other members of Congress sign on in support of the bill and its policies. That is where you will come in when you meet with your Representatives and ask for their support on this bill. Next, the bill must be considered in a Committee Hearing, where members of both parties can discuss the bill, ask questions, and make suggestions. Next, the bill is voted on in the Committee in what is called a markup. Members of Congress can make changes to the bill, and then decide if they want to support the policy or not. After a bill has been successfully voted out of committee, it comes to a vote on the Floor of the House, where all members of Congress are able to debate the bill, offer amendments, and vote on the policy. Once that is done, the bill is referred to the Senate. and the whole process begins again.

尤其激动人心的是，民主党刚刚重新夺回了众议院。我在本届任期的主要目标之一就是要求由加利福尼亚州里弗赛德的国会议员Mark Takano担任主席，专门负责监督退伍军人的医疗保健问题的退伍军人事务委员会举行一场关于针灸等替代疗法如何帮助退伍军人的听证会。在众议院，要让一项法案成为法律有很长的路要走。首先，必须引入该法案，这一步我们已经完成了！ 其次，该法案必须获得共同倡议者，这意味着需要其他国会议员签名支持该法案及其政策。 当你与代表们会面并要求他们支持该法案时，你就会进入这一步。 接下来，该法案必须在委员会听证会上审议，两党成员都可以讨论该法案，提出问题并提供建议。然后该法案会在委员会中进行标记投票。国会议员们可以对法案进行修改，然后决定他们是否要支持该政策。在一项法案成功通过委员会投票后，它将在众议院进行投票，所有国会议员都可以就议案进行辩论，提出修正案并对政策进行投票。一旦完成，该法案将被提交给参议院，然后重复整个过程。

So there is a long process ahead of us. but I’m excited because I know that if anyone can do it, it’s the acupuncturists. And I know this because, like so many of you, I know just how far we’ve come. because I have been working on this issue for years, since my time in the California General Assembly. Back then, we were fighting to have acupuncture recognized as a legitimate field. So hundreds of acupuncturists came to Sacramento to work with me on three great battles.

所以等待我们的将是一个漫长的过程，但我很兴奋，因为我知道如果有人能做到这一点，那就是针灸师。我确信这一点，和你们许多人一样，我知道我们是怎么一路走过来的。 从我加入加利福尼亚州众议院开始，我就一直在做这件事。 那时候，我们努力让针灸被认定是一个合法的领域， 当时有数百名针灸师来到萨克拉门托，与我一起进行了三场伟大的战斗。

The first battle came because of acupuncturists’ concerns that graduates of programs were not properly trained. In Asia, it takes 5,000 hours to training to be an acupuncturists, but at the time in California, it took only 2,348 hours. As a member of the State Assembly, I sponsored a bill to raise the number of hours of training needed to become a certified acupuncturist in the state of California. This bill ensured that all acupuncturists in California would have the best and most thorough training, in order to provide their patients with the best possible care.

第一场战斗是因为针灸师担心针灸毕业生没有得到适当的培训。 在亚洲，要成为一个针灸师，必须接受5,000小时的培训，但当时在加利福尼亚州，只需要2,348小时就可以。 作为州议会议员，我发起了一项法案，要求提高成为加利福尼亚州认证针灸师所需的培训时数。 该法案确保加利福尼亚州的所有针灸师都能接受最好最彻底的培训，以便为患者提供最好的护理。

Our second battle was when workers’ compensation reform was negotiated in the California State Legislature, but acupuncture was left out! I sponsored a bill that required that the California Department of Workers Compensation to cover acupuncture. And I will never forget. as we brought the bill before the Assembly committee, acupuncturists packing the committee room, and acupuncture patients giving moving testimonies of how this treatment helped them. Because of these advocates’ efforts, the bill passed, and acupuncture is back in workers compensation in California!

我们的第二场战斗是加利福尼亚州立法机构在进行工人赔偿改制谈判时，针灸被排除在外了！ 我发起了一项法案，要求加利福尼亚州工人赔偿部门将针灸纳入其中。 我永远不会忘记。 当我们把这个法案提交给大会委员会时，委员会的会议室里站满了针灸师，针灸患者们也到场提供了关于这种治疗如何帮助到他们的感人证词。 由于这些倡导者的努力，该法案获得通过，针灸又回到了加州的工人赔偿中！

The third battle came when acupuncturists reached out to me again when I was on the California Board of Equalization. They told me about how unfair it was to tax the herbal remedies acupuncturists dispensed. They asked — “Why is it that physicians do not have to apply sales tax to medicines or devices they dispense; nor pharmacists nor chiropractors, nor podiatrists? Why should acupuncturists be treated differently’?” This is why I asked the Board of Equalization to investigate this matter. They concluded that many of those products were herbs that should have been classified as foods in the first place, which are tax exempt. So now acupuncturists in California pay no sales taxes on the herbs that they dispense to patients.

当我在加州平等统一委员会工作时，针灸师再次向我伸出手，第三次战斗来了。 他们告诉我，对针灸师开的草药征税是多么不公平。 他们问道 ：“为什么医生不用为他们开的药或医疗设备设备交销售税，药剂师，脊椎治疗师和足病医生也都不用交？为什么针灸师就要被特殊对待呢？” 因此我要求平等委员会调查此事。 他们得出的结论是，这些药品中许多都是一开始就应该被归类为食品的草药，而食品是免税的。 所以现在加利福尼亚州的针灸师不用为他们开给患者的草药交销售税了。

So now, as a Member of Congress, I’m continuing this fight on a national level. Like in California, our biggest challenge is convincing lawmakers that acupuncture is a legitimate method of treatment that should be available to patients. Our first fight came soon after the federal government began its implementation of health care reform. I wanted to ensure that acupuncture would be classified as an Essential Health Benefit. If it was classified as such, then acupuncture would have to be offered in all insurance plans sold on the federal exchange. I set up meetings throughout the state so that acupuncturists could meet with a representative from the Department of Health and Human Services. The HHS representative heard about the great benefits of acupuncture – how it improves a patient’s quality of life and how it can lower overall health care costs.

所以现在，作为国会议员，我将继续在全国范围内进行这场战斗。 和在加利福尼亚州时一样，我们面临的最大挑战是让立法者相信针灸是一种合理的治疗方法，应该让患者能轻易享受。 在联邦政府开始实施医疗改革之后不久，我们就开始了第一场斗争。 我希望确保针灸被归类为基本健康福利。 如果它被归入此类，则在联邦交易所出售的所有保险计划中都必须包含针灸。我在全州各地组织了会议，以便针灸师可以与卫生和公共服务部的代表们会面, 让他们知道针灸的巨大好处 ，比如它是如何改善患者的生活质量以及如何降低整体医疗保健成本的。

This sparked the most incredible letter writing campaign I had ever seen! Your colleagues and many of you here today organized neighbors, friends. and relatives. Ultimately more than 25,000 letters from 44 states were written in support of acupuncture in mainstream healthcare! As a result, the federal government allowed states to determine whether acupuncture qualified as a covered treatment option in their own state-based exchanges. Another hard-won victory for acupuncture!

这引发了我见过的最令人难以置信的请愿活动，许多针灸师组织了邻居，朋友和亲戚参加。最终，有来自44个州的超过25,000封信件支持针灸被纳入主流医疗保险计划！ 因此，联邦政府允许各州自行决定针灸在他们的州是否能够成为被保险覆盖的治疗方案。 这是针灸的另一个来之不易的胜利！

The success of this fight shows that we can make progress on the national level for acupuncture. And last year. we had yet another victory! I am a member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over many healthcare programs, including Medicare. As Congress began considering policies to help combat our growing opioid addiction crisis, I worked with my colleague. Representative Jackie Walorski from Indiana on bipartisan legislation to promote access to acupuncture as an alternative to opioids. And having Congressmember Walorski as a partner was encouraging, because when two members of the committee come together to work on a bill impacting Medicare. it means that bill has a higher chance of passing. Together, we crafted H.R. 6110, the Dr. Todd Graham Pain Management, Treatment. and Recovery Act of 2018. This bill directs the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to study barriers that Medicare patients face in accessing non-drug alternatives to opioids. including acupuncture.

这场斗争的成功表明我们可以为针灸在国家级层面争取更多权益。去年。我们还有另一场胜利！我是美国众议院筹款委员会的成员，该委员会对包括医疗保险在内的许多医疗保健计划拥有管辖权。随着国会开始考虑制定政策以帮助对抗日益增长的阿片类药物成瘾危机，我和我的同事——来自印第安纳州的代表Jackie Walorski，正致力于推动两党立法促进针灸作为替代阿片类药物的选择。能够和国会议员Walorski成为合作伙伴是令人鼓舞的，因为当委员会中有两名成员合作制定影响医疗保险的法案时，这意味着法案通过的可能性更高。去年，我们一起起草了H.R. 6110，即Todd Graham医生疼痛管理，治疗和恢复法案。该法案指导医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心（CMS）研究医疗保险患者在获取阿片类药物的包括针灸在内的非药物替代品时面临的障碍

Now, that bipartisan support worked, because our bill was passed by the House of Representative unanimously. in a major victory for acupuncture! And it was ultimately wrapped into H.R. 6, the opioid conference report that was signed into law by the President in the fall of 2018!

现在，两党的支持见效了，因为众议院一致通过了我们的法案，这是针灸的又一重大胜利！ 它最终被包含在H.R.6，即阿片类药物会议报告中，由总统于2018年秋季签署成为法律！

This was an enormous step forward for acupuncture. but there is still more work to do. As I mentioned before, for H.R. 1182, to move forward. I will need the help of acupuncturists once again. Tomorrow, when you come to capitol hill, let your representatives know how important acupuncture is. and how much it can help patients. Members pay close attention to requests that come from their constituents, so if you ask that they sign on to the bill, they will take it seriously.

So thank you for being here today, thank you for advocating on behalf of acupuncture, and I look forward to see you all at the Capitol tomorrow!

这是针灸的巨大进步。但正如我之前提到的那样，要推动H.R. 1182，前方还有更多工作在等着我们。  我将再次需要针灸师的帮助。 明天，当你来到国会山时，请让你的代表知道针灸是多么重要，它能为患者提供多少帮助。 议员们会密切关注来自选民的请求，因此如果您要求他们签署该法案，他们会认真对待。

非常感谢您今天来到这里，感谢您代表针灸加入倡议，期待明天在国会大厦见到您！