Study: Americans spend billions on non-conventional health approaches

Americans spend $30.2 billion out-of-pocket on complementary health approaches annually, a substantial percentage of the $328.8 billion spent in total out-of-pocket health care expenditures, a new study says.

The study, released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), used data collected by the 2012 National Health Interview Survey that were then weighted to produce estimates representative of the entire U.S. population.

Researchers estimated that one in five Americans aged 4 years and over spent money on at least one type of complementary health approach, which could include massage therapy, tai chi, chiropractic manipulation, homeopathic treatment, hypnosis and energy healing therapy.

While these costs only equate to about 1% of total health care spending in the U.S., they are comparable to expenditures for conventional physician visits and prescription drug use.

Americans were more likely to have spent money on natural product supplements—such as acai pills, digestive enzymes, fish oil and probiotics—than on visits to complementary approach practitioners or self-care approaches.

The study found that in 2012, the $12.8 billion spent out-of-pocket on natural product supplements alone is equal to about 24% the amount spent on prescription drug use in the same year ($54 billion).

Most health insurance doesn’t cover the costs of supplements or visits to complimentary practitioners—which could be $100 or more—so families with higher incomes tend to use this type of healthcare more frequently, the researchers concluded.

Chief of infectious disease at Children’s Hospital Philadelphia Paul Offit thinks Americans are willing to spend billions on alternative healthcare because they see a tremendous value in the industry, which he says is loosely regulated for safety and efficacy.

“You are putting a lot of faith in something you shouldn’t have much faith in,” he said. “They don’t have to test for safety and usefulness as long as they don’t make a serious medical claim.”

Though labels on concentrated garlic may claim to support heart health, for example, they cannot claim to treat or mitigate heart disease.

Dietary supplements can be marketed without any review or approval by the FDA, unlike prescription or over-the-counter drugs, according to the National Institute of Health website.

Though supplement companies are responsible for having evidence that supports their label claims, they are not required to provide that evidence to the FDA before putting their product on the shelves, the site says.

Daniel Fabricant, executive director and CEO of the National Products Association and former director of Dietary Supplement Programs at the FDA, says dietary supplements do not claim to cure or mitigate disease and are, in fact, regulated just like other drugs.

He says dietary supplements require Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) and compliance with the FDA’s adverse event reporting and recordkeeping requirements, among other things.

“People are fed up with the type of care they get from primary physicians that is covered by insurance,” Fabricant said. “Across the board, people are looking for ways to stay healthy on their own.”

According to Fabricant, the average doctor runs through 40 patients each day and spends 7 minutes on each. “It’s very difficult to get interested in someone’s health and wellness during a seven-minute period,” he said.

Amir Saam Ghaemi, who recently moved to Virginia from Dubai, takes multi-vitamins, protein supplements, fish oils and pre-workout supplements that contain nitric oxide or caffeine. He also visits a chiropractor to get his “joints in order” and sees a primary care physician for his annual checkup.

Ghaemi, 21, believes that conventional and complementary practitioners, such as chiropractors, are equally effective. “There are certain spinal conditions that can be treated over time, but going under the knife can ultimately fix the problem faster,” he said.

Fabricant says doctors receive only 16 hours of nutritional training on average, so they simply don’t know why people should be taking these supplements. He urges doctors to redo their research on alternative healthcare and then educate their patients accordingly.

“I don’t think it’s just Americans who are spending the money, I think the self-care movement, globally, is here to stay,” he said.

Other study results:

• About 55 million adults had at least one expenditure for some type of complementary health approach, compared to about 4 million children.
• While adults had higher average expenditures for visits to complementary practitioners than children, no real difference was observed between adults and children for expenditures on natural product supplements or self-care approaches.
• Complementary health care users four years old and over spent an annual average of $510 dollar on complementary health care approaches.
• The average out-of-pocket expenditure for visits to a complementary practitioner was $433, compared to $368 for purchases of natural product supplements and $257 for self-care approaches.