(MONEY Magazine) – If you scoff at alternative medicine, you may want to think again. In October, the usually staid National Institutes of Health issued research grants of $30,000 each to test the effectiveness of 30 alternative therapies, including homeopathy, hypnosis and acupuncture. Currently, an estimated one out of every three Americans occasionally seeks nontraditional therapies -- at an average cost per treatment of $27.60 and a bill of as much as $10 billion a year. Moreover, patients have been paying virtually all those billions out of their own pockets. But help is on the way. Last July, the nation's largest family health insurer, Mutual of Omaha, became the first to cover the $3,500 cost of an innovative 12-week program of diet, exercise and stress management designed to reverse heart disease. By contrast, the price tag for standard surgery for heart ailments ranges from $18,000 to $43,000. That sort of differential figures to influence more insurers. In addition, HMOs are investigating New Age techniques. At Lovelace Health Systems in Albuquerque, a patient with chronic pain is more likely to get biofeedback than pills. Dale Zimmermann, the osteopathic physician who founded the plan's Pain Management Center, regularly prescribes skeletal/muscular manipulation, acupuncture and hypnosis to help patients who have not responded to traditional medicine. Does this mean your plan will soon pick up the tab for yoga classes? Not likely. Still, you should ask your doctor about what may be covered. Harvie Raymond of the Health Insurance Association of America says: "An alternative therapy has to be medically necessary, not just useful. If your doctor sees real merit in it, you may be able to get reimbursement.''