ATLANTA—Close to 83 million U.S. adults spent $33.9 billion out of pocket on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in 2007, according to a National Center for Health Statistics survey.
An estimated $22.0 billion was spent on self-care costs—CAM products, classes and materials that do not require a health care practitioner—with the majority going to the purchase of nonvitamin, nonmineral, natural products ($14.8 billion) such as fish oil, glucosamine and Echinacea. This is equivalent to approximately one-third of total out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs. Homeopathy made up about 8.6 percent of the cost of CAM, while costs were minimal for books and videotapes to learn relaxation techniques.
“The fact that 22 billion was spent on self-care therapies indicates to us, here at the National Center Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), that people are actively engaged in their own health and want to find solutions to their health issues that they can manage on their own versus relying on some sort of health professional whether it’s a conventional provider or a CAM provider,” said Richard L. Nahin, Ph.D., MPH, acting director of NCCAM’s Division of Extramural Research and lead author of the cost of complementary and alternative medicine analysis.
U.S. adults also spent approximately $11.9 billion on an estimated 354.2 million visits to CAM practitioners such as acupuncturists, chiropractors, massage therapists, etc. This is equivalent to approximately one-quarter of total out-of-pocket spending on physician visits.
CAM is a group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices and products, such as herbal supplements, meditation, chiropractic and acupuncture, that are not generally considered to be part of conventional medicine. The survey was done by NCCAM, a division of the National Institute of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics.
