Where
Shambhala Mountain Center

10% discount offered to AAC members

Tai Chi Chuan study can be used for PDAs.
You can apply 12 PDA hours from this weekend retreat towards recertification.

Tai chi ch’uan and mindfulness meditation uncover our basic gentleness, strength, health and compassion. Learning how to transform impatience into presence; anxiety into groundedness; fear into fearlessness; and hurry into peace are essential for our times. The precious medicines of Cheng Man-Ch’ing’s Eight Ways of Tai Chi, listening hands and mindfulness meditation are easy to learn and practice anywhere, anytime. We will also explore the movement of the five seasons and five elements, as they guide us to return to balance and health. Please read and bring “There Are No Secrets” by Wolfe Lowenthal and “Practicing Peace in Times of War” by Pema Chodron. These books will guide our study and deepen our embodiment of tai chi and meditation.   This will be the first time presentation of the Eight Ways at this retreat.

Larry Welsh M.Ac., MA, has trained in the Yang-style short form, listening hands and sword form of Tai Chi Ch’uan since 1977. He practices Japanese classical acupuncture, herbal medicine and whole-food nutrition in Boulder, Colorado. Larry is senior adjunct professor and mindfulness meditation teacher in the Traditional Eastern Arts program at Naropa University currently on leave.

Contact information
www.larrywelshacupuncture.com
Phone: 303-654-4836 for questions regarding the program
e-mail: acu_puncture@comcast.net
AAC Members register here for discount!

Click here to see flier!

Here is the latest information about the new acudetox bill going before the state legislature:

A bill allowing mental health professionals and psychiatric technicians to perform five-point auricular acudetox was introduced and ultimately defeated in the 2011 legislative session. The bill initiator, an M.D. in Pueblo, is introducing another acudetox bill in the current legislative session.  The AAC has been working with the bill sponsors to insure the content is agreeable to us. This bill will allow specific mental health workers to perform the NADA procedure on patients that have been diagnosed with an addiction dis­order. A key inclusion for us is that either a licensed acupuncturist or M.D must do indirect supervision. Currently 18 states have acudetox statutes in place, and if this bill passes it will be one of the most well defined statutes of its type. The bill, HB12-1141, has now been scheduled to go before the House Health and Environment Committee on February 14, 2012 at 1:30 p.m.  Pasting the following link into your browser will allow you to read the text of the bill:

Click here to open bill

By working with the bill sponsors, the AAC has worked hard to protect the acupuncture scope and interests of licensed acupuncturists in Colorado, potentially add some employment opportunities for L.Ac.’s, insure patient safety, and enable more patients to receive acudetox treatments.

Linda Gibbons, L.Ac.

AAC Legislative Chair

Upper and lower crossed syndromes are common postural distortions that are increasingly evident in today’s society and can result in acute and chronic pain syndromes.

Crossed syndromes are comprised of shortened and lengthened opposing muscle groups of the neck, shoulder and pelvic girdles that put excessive tension on the soft tissue and articulating joints. Identifying and treating these postural distortions are important in maintaining long-term successful results when treating organ (zang fu) pathology and musculoskeletal injury. (For more info please visit our website)

$350 Licensed Practitioner; $275 Student

Discount offered to AAC participants – 10%

PDA’s: NCCAOM approved for 15 PDA’s

Provider: Michael Young, L.Ac, MSTCM – Michael has been in practice for 22 years.  During that time he has specialized in chronic pain, digestive disorders, immune and autoimmune disorders, and psychiatric disorders with and emphasis on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  He is a Full Professor at Southwest Acupuncture College (Boulder branch) where he has taught since their opening in 1997.  When DORA decided that injection therapy was in our scope of practice, he pursued training through Heel, Guna, and Joe Swartz, MD and has been sharing his knowledge through injection seminars since 1996.  The approach that he uses and teaches is how to use injection therapy as an adjunct to acupuncture mainly for the treatment of stubborn trigger points, however he has also been trained in using injections for cosmetic purposes and homotoxicological approaches to modulate the immune system for patients with chronic infections and/or autoimmunity.

Course: The first part of this class emphasizes safety issues and how to stay within compliance of DORA regulations by knowing how to manage anaphylaxis and other possible side effects of injection therapy. The other parts of the class emphasize understanding and knowing which injectables to use in a particular situation and how to effectively treat Trigger Points with injection therapy.  At least 50% of the class involves hands-on training and it is limited to 6 people to ensure that everyone gets enough supervision time to feel confident to apply what they learn immediately.

Contact information:
303.702.0219
genkiacupuncture@earthlink.net
younghealthcare.com

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Sincerely,

Dawn Richardson, Director of Advocacy
National Vaccine Information Center
http://NVIC.org and http://NVICAdvocacy.org
Dawn@NVICAdvocacy.org

URGENT ACTION ALERT: Colorado Flu Vaccine Mandate for Healthcare Workers

1/20/2012

The Colorado Board of Health will have the final hearing and adoption of the new rule that mandates healthcare workers get an annual flu vaccine on Feb. 15, 2012.  There is NO religious or personal exemption in the current version of the rule.  Time is running out and comments must be received by Feb. 1st, 2012.

ACTION NEEDED NOW:

Send written comments addressed to the Colorado Board of Health before Feb. 1st, 2012 to the attention of Jamie Thornton and plan on attending the final hearing on Feb. 15th.

Jamie Thornton, Board Program Assistant
4300 Cherry Creek Dr. South
Denver, CO 80246-1530
Jamie.thornton@state.co.us
303-692-3464
303-691-7702 – fax

The official agenda will be posted on the health dept. web site here:
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/op/bh/

MAIN POINTS TO MAKE:

1. Not allowing a declination for religious reasons is a civil rights violation, a human rights violation and eliminates a religious right that has been recognized in the state of Colorado for years.  There will be legal challenges to this rule that will be costly for the State of Colorado.

EEOC rules state religious exemptions must be allowed.  This rule violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Code and the ADA:
http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/pandemic_flu.html#36 see pint #13 in this EEOC Document.

Tell the board the rule must include an exemption or declination for religious reasons.  The state cannot define religion and they cannot discriminate based on religion., so the religious exemption cannot be tied to any particular religion.

2. This rule needs to go through the legislative process, not the rule-making process being used by the Board of Health.  The true stakeholders were not engaged in the drafting process.  No one was allowed to comment at public meetings where this issue was discussed.
An opposing view or comments were not allowed after the very biased presentation at the board meeting on Jan. 18th.  The regulatory analysis that was done, is inadequate and there has been no true cost/benefit analysis done.

http://www.nvic.org/PDFs/NVAC/NVPO-Flu-Vaccine-Public-Comment-docx.aspx
- read the NVIC comments concerning this issue being discussed at the national level.  This is an excellent, well referenced source of information.  This information applies, not only at the national level, but at the state level.

Tell the board to vote NO on this rule and send it to the legislature,
The legislature is the appropriate place for this matter  to be considered.  Elected officials who are accountable to the people are the ones who should be considering a rule that will effect so many people in Colorado, not appointed board members.

Mark your calendar for Feb. 15th and plan to attend the board meeting for the final hearing of this rule.  The board will allow public comments, however they may limit the time depending on how many people want to comment.  They may allow 5 minutes a person, or less than that.

Contact your local news station and local newspaper and ask them to cover this story.
Details of the meeting can be found here:

http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/op/bh/hearingnotices/6CCR1011-1ChIIPart10Influenza/Notice.pdf

The revised rule can be found here:

http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/op/bh/hearingnotices/6CCR1011-1ChIIPart10Influenza/ProposedAmendments.pdf

The Statement of Basis and Purpose, why they are doing this,  can be found here:

http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/op/bh/hearingnotices/6CCR1011-1ChIIPart10Influenza/StatementOfBasisAndPurpose.pdf

The so-called regulatory analysis, including the cost of this rule, can be found here:

http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/op/bh/hearingnotices/6CCR1011-1ChIIPart10Influenza/RegulatoryAnalysis.pdf

Essential Health Benefits: In 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, a health insurance reform law intended to ensure access to quality and affordable health insurance for all Americans. Starting in 2014, most health plans will be required to offer a comprehensive package of items and services to patients, known as “essential health benefits” (EHB). Under the new law, EHB must cover certain specific services including emergency services, maternity and newborn care, prescription drugs as well as preventive and wellness services, among others.

The AAAOM strongly supports designating acupuncture as an EHB. Our full position statement is available in the Governance section of our website at aaaomonline.org. If you are able to contribute financial support to this effort, which will be solely used to further publicize and generate action on this issue, please click here or contact us. To participate in committee work or related research projects, please contact us at info@aaaomonline.org.

Public Input is Needed: The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is currently accepting input regarding their approach to establishing EHBs. A strong public show of support for acupuncture as an essential health benefit will be noticed by policymakers and will lay a solid foundation for future federal acupuncture initiatives.

Take action now: Ask your patients to send an email to the address below to show their support for EHB. Also, send your own email as a patient showing your support. Emails should request that acupuncture be designated as an essential benefit service and should share the benefits of acupuncture and its cost effectiveness. A sample letter is included on our website.

To send a message to HHS, visit aaaomonline.org/ehb or send an email directly to: EssentialHealthBenefits@cms.hhs.gov and carbon copy EHB@aaaomonline.org so that we can track the letters sent. The deadline for comments is January 31, 2012.
Thank you for your support of our efforts to serve our profession. If you have any questions or need any assistance, please contact AAAOM at 1-866-455-7999, extension 3, or info@aaaomonline.org.

Warmly,

Jeannie Kang, MSTOM, LAc, DNBAO, DNBIM
President, AAAOM Board of Directors