Reimbursement for Acupuncture Treatments in the German Statutory Health Insurance System

Since 2007, acupuncture in Germany is reimbursed by the statutory health insurance. However, this policy is limited to the diagnoses 'chronic pain in lumbar spine' and 'chronic pain in knee joint through gonarthrosis' and connected to semi-standardized specifications for acupuncture treatment that partly do not correspond with standards in professional acupuncture training. Predominantly, acupuncture is applied in orthopedic practice. High demands in qualification and quality assurance as well as the difficulty to establish an economically attractive framework in acupuncture treatment are issues that curtail the appeal of acupuncture as treatment option to be offered by statutory health insurance.