State OKs alternative-health insurer

Pacific Business News (Honolulu)
August 10, 2005

The state has approved a new alternative-health insurer to do business in Hawaii.

San Diego-based American Specialty Health Insurance Co. will offer alternative and complementary health-care plans to employers statewide. It will provide insurance for nontraditional services such as chiropractic, massage, acupuncture and mind-body therapies, as well as dietetic counseling.

Employers can buy these benefits as a supplemental group benefit, similar to purchasing vision, dental or behavioral-health coverage.

The company says businesses want to offer complementary health-care coverage because it can help reduce employee medical utilization as well as the overall costs of health care.

Employers also are interested because of employee demand for complementary health services.

It's estimated that more than half of Americans use some form of complementary health care each year. Most pay hundreds of dollars out-of-pocket for these services, which typically aren't covered by traditional employer-sponsored health plans.