U.S. Senate Health Reform Testimony on Integrative Care: A Pathway to a Healthier Nation

Dean Ornish, MD, is the founder and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, CA and a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. For over 30 years, Dr. Ornish has directed clinical research demonstrating, for the first time, that comprehensive lifestyle changes—including Yoga—may begin to reverse even severe coronary heart disease, without drugs or surgery. Recently, Medicare agreed to provide coverage for this program, the first time that Medicare has covered a program of comprehensive lifestyle changes. The following is a transcript of his testimony on health reform before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. IJYT is pleased to publish this testimony to provide a window onto the national discussion about the future of healthcare and the role that holistic, preventive practices like Yoga will play.