Health Insurance
- Home
- /
- ARA For Health Insurance Companies
ARA For Insurance Companies
ARA is the regulatory authority for UK Acupuncture and was originally formed with support from Cherie Blair and Unison and the recommendations from the House of Lords CAM report. We are one of the oldest established groups in the UK and are proactive in actually regulating, auditing and protecting the public.
Levels of Training
Our educational framework allows transparency to the public and Levels of Training are assessed against the Educational National Credit Framework which uses a skill level and also a certification length based on credits. All of our core acupuncturists practitioners have a minimum of Level 4 (equivalent to an HNC) Diplomas (minimum of 360 hours), with the majority holding a Level 5 (equivalent to a Foundation Degree) or level 6 Bachelor’s Degree.
Auditing
Very few groups in Acupuncture carry out audits and the ones that do are usually using self-verification via check lists. This is not an audit as there is no true verification via proof of documentation and even statutory groups often only check that practitioners are carrying out their hours of Continued Professional Development Training (CPD) each year. Neither of these systems offer protection to the public in reality. ARA carries out true random audits across all the ARA member groups and checks via actual document and live verification which helps us to offer an unprecedented increased protection not offered elsewhere in the industry.
Safety Record
Our safety record is one of the best in the industry and far lower than other sectors, so much so that we are exempt from the requirement to be licensed in London Boroughs because of our safety record, and protective codes of conduct and safe practice. ARA practitioners are very safe and our malpractice claim figures of ARA practitioners using our insurance scheme in the past three years (2020-2023) is £0 showing an unbelievable safety record and reflects our practitioners understanding of patient care and treatments.
ARA Acceptance
ARA are listed and accepted on the Private Practitioners Register for healthcare insurance companies
- ARA follows the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) Standards of practice
- ARA meets the five Environmental Health and licensing requirements for professional bodies
- ARA provides transparency to the public and regulates acupuncture titles, styles and terms
- ARA was the only group open during all lockdowns with special permission form PHE
- ARA are exempt from licensing in London due to our safety record and comprehensive codes of conduct
- ARA are the only non-statutory group that are recognised by the Blood Transfusion Service and SaBTO
- ARA meet the standards of training as detailed by the World Health Organization (WHO)
- ARA follow the National Occupational Standards for therapists and acupuncture
ARA Practitioners
- Were upgraded in 2020 to the Professionals Healthcare group on the ONS alongside Physiotherapists and Osteopaths.
- Abide by codes of professional conduct and safe practice that have been specifically written by regulatory solicitors which we believe are the most comprehensive and up to date in the industry
- Often have additional training in many other disciplines and can offer a wider services such as phlebotomy, functional testing and prescribing of supplements
- Are encouraged to have 3 yearly First Aid training and certification as well as DBS checks for those working with vulnerable patients
- Advertise their services accurately
- Have full insurance for the services they provide
- Follow a step by step complaints policy backed by ARA
Acupuncture as a treatment
The evidence base for acupuncture as a treatment for over 117 conditions is growing at twice the rate of conventional bio-medicine. Acupuncture has a plethora of scientific papers and study and is now beyond doubt as to its efficacy. Acupuncture in the UK was raised into the Healthcare Professional group in 2020 due to its efficacy during Covid and ARA was given special permissions to stay open supporting the NHS during the pandemic. Acupuncture is also cost effective as a solution for healthcare insurance companies and generally much cheaper than other private healthcare services.
Health Insurance and Acupuncture Treatments​
Registrants of the Acupuncture Regulatory Authority (ARA) should ask clients to confirm with their health insurance provider that their policy covers acupuncture treatments as many don’t. Practitioners should not give assurances about insurance cover unless eligibility has been verified. Please note that some of the Health Insurance companies may still know us as British Acupuncture Federation, rather than Acupuncture Regulatory Authority, due to when and how often they do admin changes, so if asked, you may need to check first before claiming.
In some cases, practitioners may also need to register directly with the Professional Practice Register (PPR) on the Healthcode website here: https://www.healthcode.co.uk/the-ppr/, as some insurance companies use this register to check practitioner eligibility.
A step-by-step guide to registering with the PPR is available here:Â https://acupunctureregulatoryauthority.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Guide-to-register-for-PPR.pdf
Insurance companies that already work with ARA
