External Communications Committee
Chair, Lindy Camardella

The External Communications Committee (AKA the public relations committee) is actively recruiting for at least 4 new members for the committee; we are ramping up to share all that the ASA is working on and developing, including an overall marketing strategy from current research being done. Because we are focusing on communications that represent all, we are actively looking to include members of the BIPOC community- We would love to hear from you! If you are interested, please apply through
Nom Com or reach out to our Committee Chair, Lindy at
melinda.camardella@gmail.com
Governance Committee
Chair, Zeyiad Elias

After our call for committee members last month, we've begun to receive applicants. We still need more candidates. If you're interested in joining this important committee, helping further develop infrastructure, including policy and operating procedures, please visit our
committees page to learn more and apply. It is a great opportunity to further cultivate organizational and leadership skills.
Herbal Committee
Chair, Linda Robinson-Hidas

The Herbal Medicine Committee is continuing to work on clarifying best practices for our profession. Reminder: several acupuncturists have received cease and desist orders from the FDA due to advertising that practitioners are treating COVID-19. Please use the language provided in our
best herbal medicine practices during COVID-19.
Insurance Committee
Chair, Mori West

The ASA Insurance Committee has been in communication regarding issues associated with the VA CCN program, as administered by Optum and TriWest. The VA confirmed that the effective date for use of the new Medicare reimbursement fee schedule was June 24, 2020. The VA also confirmed that the Medicare Multiple Modality methodology SHOULD NOT be used for calculating reimbursements. We have received confirmation from Optum that they are in compliance with this implementation.
We have not received further follow up communication from TriWest. At our last communication, TriWest reiterated their April 1, 2020 start date for the Medicare reimbursement fee schedule. We are requesting an additional explanation from TriWest as to this start date (as it conflicts with the VA start date of June 24, 2020.) In addition, TriWest stated that they ceased applying the Medicare Multiple Modality methodology effective September 1, 2020. TriWest has not yet responded to our request for how they are addressing claims for dates of service prior to September 1, 2020. We will continue to follow up with them.
We advise all practitioners to not ignore recoupment letters from TriWest. If you have received a recoupment letter from TriWest, contact them and request clarification of the recoupment. Specifically, ask them to review the recoupment with you to confirm that it does not include incorrect methodology.
In addition to the above, we are in the process of sending out non-disclosure agreements to every state association that has a designated Insurance Liaison. Once they are returned, we will set a date for our first instructional virtual meeting; the purpose of this meeting will be to provide training about insurance billing as well as disseminate information about the work we are doing at the national level.
Member Benefits Committee
Chair, Amy Lewis

The Member Benefits Committee will be responsible for creating opportunities to attract new members to state associations as well as improve loyalty and excitement about being a current member. These benefits can be varied and its important for us to know a. what our members would like to see in the way of benefits and b. help the state associations get the word out regularly about these benefits to attract new members and retain current members.
Our first year goals are:
1. Survey membership to find out which benefits are most attractive.
2. Streamline benefits (and the vendors who provide them) to have better negotiating power as a national organization and to take the burden from each state to negotiate their own benefits.
3. Identify and deliver new, high value benefits for members
4. Create a partner (vendor) database so that we can better manage relationships and keep an organizational memory so that we can strategically strengthen our corporate and institutional partners.
5. Assist other committees as needed to help accomplish (conference and communication, for example) to strengthen and streamline the overall operation of the ASA
Mentorship Program
Chair, Christine Cronin

We need mentors! Those of you who specialize in treating mental emotional disorders and those of you who are herbalists, please come forth! We have placed 30 people together - 15 mentors and 15 mentees since the start of the program. Mentees are benefiting and are grateful, but we still have more mentees to place than we have mentors. The challenge is matching mentors and mentees in the same geographical area and combining with matching specialty as well. In short, we need mentors from all over the country. Please pass on the below flyer to anyone you think may be interested.
To everyone, but especially to our new graduates and those who are looking for a change, please do not forget to check out our
ASA Job Openings Board. Over 90+ pages in state alphabetical order of positions and practices for sale.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at secretary@asacu.org
Nominating Committee
Chair, Sarah Prater
This month, the Nominating Committee rolled out our new committee application process with a great response. We’ve had 9 applications come in and we are in the process of vetting and recommending them to the corresponding committee chairs. Thank you to everyone who has submitted an application! We are working on streamlining the process to reduce the time between application and placement. The Nominating Committee is currently looking for at least one additional member. Anyone interested in joining an ASA committee should fill out this application.
The Nominating Committee also vetted the Arkansas Society of Licensed Acupuncturists and then Hawaii Acupuncture Association for an upcoming council vote in October. We continue to work with other associations to help them through the application process. If your state would like to join, please fill out this application.
We are always accepting nominations for ASA board members. If you are interested or would like to nominate someone, please reach out to
NomCom@ASAcu.org for more information. We like to have a pool of vetted candidates for board positions so they can be filled as quickly as possible when an opening becomes available.
We are also continuing work on collecting documentation from states that were grandfathered into the ASA. We are specifically looking for bylaws, incorporation documents, and tax status documentation. If your state has not sent in your documentation, please reach out to
NomCom@ASAcu.org.
Student Committee
Chair, Alex Russell

The Student Committee met on Tuesday September 8th. We want to thank all the state associations who have reached out during this time. It’s been wonderful to connect and hear from you. Thank you! We started off by discussing feedback and thoughts around the August 19th Town Hall. Students, if you have additional thoughts or feedback for our committee we are gathering responses. In highlighting Acupuncture Medicine Day, we are asking any students who serve in any underrepresented communities, please reach out -we want to hear from you.
We have also been working to streamline the ASA Mentorship Mentee sign up form and have succeeded in creating an easy step by step process. To learn more and receive the form, please email us at students@asacu.org.
We were so glad to be able to join FSOMA for their Student Meeting on September 17th. Thank you for having us! If any other state associations would like for us to join in any student meetings or events. please email us. We are happy to offer support and hear from students!
Currently, we are focusing our projects to create additional student centered resources and support. We were also contacted by SANESA (Student Association of New England School of Acupuncture) and they are hosting a guest speaker through zoom October 7th at 11am ET (Free). For the flyer and more information, please email us.
To connect with us, please email students@asacu.org or follow us on Instagram @asastudents
VA / DOD Course Program
Chair, Christine Cronin

The DOD/VA Orientation Course Committee met with NCCAOM to begin to outline our possible areas of responsibility for creating and promoting a 5 module course that focus on the following areas: Military Rank Structure/Military Culture, Patient Care, Medical Knowledge, Inter-Professional Communication/Professionalism and System Based Practice. These modules can be taken as individual courses or as a course series. This was done so that the series would have broader appeal and serve more of our profession. Our next meeting with take place in November 2020. Thank you to Amy Mager, Leslie Smith, Jason Sargis, Patrick Sonnenberg, Erin Raskin and Heather Klein for serving on this committee as well as Mina Larson, Iman Majd and Nicholas Dougherty for their willingness to potentially work with us to bring the course series to an online format.