A federally-funded study on the success of acupuncture treatments for older adults with chronic low back pain could be the support the industry needs to gain greater support from the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again movement. 

A randomized clinical trial study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Friday, with positive results treating seniors suffering from chronic back pain, could soon catch the eye of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and others in the federal public health sphere to increase access to the unconventional treatment. 

Recommended Stories

• Catholic reproductive health catches eye of Trump administration: Inside a NaPro clinic
• Cassidy begs RFK Jr. to support whooping cough vaccine after multiple infant deaths
• CDC urged to update medical codes to include detransitioners

The clinical trial, referred to as BackInAction, was funded by the National Institutes of Health and enrolled 800 participants nationwide with self-report pain-related disability assessments. A third of participants received up to 15 acupuncture treatments over three months, and another third received six additional treatments the following three months. 

At the six-month and 12-month follow-ups after receiving treatment, both groups said they had greater reductions in pain disability than those who received standard medical care alone.  Researchers also found that the acupuncture groups had lower levels of anxiety compared to the standard medical group.

Lead study author Kaiser Permanente and researcher Lynn DeBar said in an NIH press release about the study that most treatments for chronic back pain have “a somewhat modest effect,” only reducing pain by “about a third at best.”

“Our clinical results suggest that acupuncture is working as well as many things that are more familiar to people,” said DeBar. “We found that the size of this effect, while modest, was positive and sustained.”

The researchers also found that acupuncture had fewer side effects compared to traditional medical treatments, making it a less invasive and potentially safer option for older adults who often suffer from other health issues. 

BackInAction was not directly a MAHA initiative, nor has Kennedy said much about acupuncture.

The study started in 2021 and ended in May 2024, well before the rise of the formal MAHA movement, which began when Kennedy and President Donald Trump joined forces towards the end of last year’s political campaign. 

But the results align well with Kennedy’s general support of unorthodox and non-pharmacological approaches to medicine. The acupuncture industry has been strongly supportive of both Kennedy and Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump’s pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 

Upon Kennedy’s confirmation in April, the American Society of Acupuncturists and the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine sent a letter congratulating the new HHS Secretary and asking him to take acupuncture seriously.

The letter urged Kennedy to “increase access to evidence-based acupuncture services for all Americans” and recognize the licensure of certified acupuncturists “as the most appropriate provider” of treatment instead of mainstream physicians. 

“As Secretary of HHS, you can help remove existing barriers that prevent Americans, especially Seniors, from obtaining evidence-based, non-pharmaceutical treatment for chronic pain,” the ASA and NCCAOM wrote to Kennedy in April. 

The two acupuncturist societies wrote similarly to Oz following his Senate confirmation later that same month, urging him to support improving access to acupuncture care for seniors over 65 on Medicare. 

Currently, Medicare Part B medical insurance only covers acupuncture for chronic low back pain that has lasted for longer than 12 weeks and has no known cause. Medicare covers a maximum of 20 acupuncture treatments for a 12-month period.

Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) introduced the Acupuncture for Our Seniors Act of 2025 in February. The bill would provide more complete Medicare coverage for acupuncture services. It has one Republican and 12 Democratic co-sponsors.

According to the 2022 National Health Interview Survey, only about 2.2% of the US population used acupuncture in the past year. That’s up significantly from about 1% of the population in 2002.