Recognizing chronic pain as a disease would be a game changer in terms of how insurance companies address treatment options. A 2017 review of state-based health insurance plans found that the majority did not cover nonpharmaceutical treatment options for people with chronic low back pain, for example. "Acknowledging the burden of pain and how this disease has affected so many millions of people should lead to pressure on insurers to approve coverage for more treatment," Steinberg said. Martha Nolan, senior policy advisor at HealthyWomen, said getting the condition classified as a disease is a concept that has value because insurers pay medical bills based on CPT codes for disease evaluation, diagnosis and treatment submitted by providers. This can give insurers control over which treatment doctors can give a patient so that they will be reimbursed and not have to pay out of pocket for costly care that they may not be able to afford otherwise. "While I think this is changing slightly, it is more likely HCPs have figured out ways to bill," Nolan wrote in an email. "With the bias toward treating something recognized as a disease as opposed to something unidentifiable or harder to classify, making the change could help with coverage as well as people with chronic pain not being dismissed by doctors." By increasing chronic pain research and training, experts hope that HCPs will be better informed when speaking to patients about their pain and that if HCPs understand that this is disease like any other disease, patients will in turn receive better treatment.