Medicare expands to cover acupuncture for seniors starting 2025

What it does

This bill adds acupuncture services to Medicare coverage, allowing seniors to receive acupuncture treatment paid for by the federal program. It defines a 'qualified acupuncturist' as someone licensed by their state (or nationally certified if their state has no licensure) or a physician authorized to perform acupuncture, and establishes payment rules so Medicare reimburses these services at rates comparable to other practitioners.

Why we flagged it

The bill's sole operative mechanism is adding a new covered service category to Medicare. It is a straightforward benefit-expansion bill with no hidden riders, tax provisions, or regulatory carve-outs.

What the text implies

• State licensure variation may create geographic disparities in access: seniors in states without acupuncturist licensure laws will depend on national certification standards, potentially limiting practitioner supply in those regions.
• Medicare payment rates for acupuncturists are not specified in the bill text; final reimbursement levels will be set by CMS through rulemaking, creating uncertainty about program cost and practitioner participation.
• The bill allows physicians to bill as acupuncturists under Medicare, potentially creating billing overlap and incentive structures that favor physician-delivered acupuncture over independent acupuncturist services.
• No clinical efficacy threshold or evidence-based coverage limits are stated; Medicare will cover acupuncture regardless of indication, unlike some other alternative therapies that are limited to specific diagnoses.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Medicare beneficiaries gain access to a new treatment modality at no out-of-pocket cost (beyond existing Medicare cost-sharing), expanding their healthcare options. The bill imposes no new restrictions on seniors' rights or remedies, and the cost to the federal program is uncertain but likely modest given acupuncture's current limited use in mainstream medicine.

Who stands to gain

• licensed acupuncturists and acupuncture clinics
• physicians offering acupuncture services
• healthcare systems and hospitals employing acupuncturists

Named in the bill

Medicare, Social Security Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), state acupuncturist licensing boards, national acupuncturist certification authorities

Where it stands

26 cosponsors: 25 Democrats, 1 Republicans.

• Feb 27, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 27, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Energy and Commerce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a…”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

1 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $60,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 1 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.

More lobbying clients named this bill than 0% of bills with at least one filing.

Judy Chu, the sponsor, reported $421,000 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.

• National Certification Board for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine — $60,000 on 2 filings

Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.