By Jim Roope, CNN

(CNN) – Acupuncture history is about to be made for a second time in California.

Governor Jerry Brown is expected to sign two bills that would, for the first time in US history, put acupuncture in the list of essential health benefits.

That means health insurance providers would have to pay for acupuncture treatments like they pay for x-rays or flu shots.

[:46] “I’ve personally seen the evolution of this profession in California and basically in the United States,”said Jacques MoraMarco, acupuncture practitioner and Dean of Emperor’s College in Santa Monica.

In 1976, then Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill that legalized the practice of acupuncture. MoraMarco was among those who took the first licensing test 35 years ago.

Before 1976, MoraMarco said acupuncturists practiced illegally.

Elvis Presley, who studied with the same Martial Arts teachers as MoraMarco, received acupuncture treatment for an injured ankle.

Bonanza’s Lorne Green also received clandestine acupuncture treatments from the same acupuncturist that treated Elvis.

[2:29] “…every so often he would have to be bailed out and Lorne Green would go and bail him out,” MoraMarco said. “He was arrested for practicing medical procedure without a license.”

Today acupuncture is integrated in many Western medicine facilities.

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