ARTICLE
Last week, I had the privilege to represent the Texas Chiropractic Association and Texas chiropractors at the American Chiropractic Association’s ACA Engage in Washington, DC. This national conference is the biggest opportunity for the chiropractic profession as a whole to influence federal policy, and it was very productive. Our top priority was to solicit support for the Chiropractic Medicare Modernization Act. In a stroke of good timing, H.R. 539 and S.106 were reintroduced in the U.S. House and Senate, just a few days before our Capitol Hill visits with members of Congress and staff. Texas leaders from ACA and TCA joined Parker University faculty and students from the Parker SACA chapter in 25 meetings and visited all 40 legislative offices. It was an exhausting day, but well worth it. As of today, we already are up to three co-sponsors from Texas – Rep. Lance Gooden, Rep. Troy Nehls and Rep. Beth Van Duyne. Check out the list of co-sponsors … not bad! However, we hope to get every U.S. Representative from Texas who sponsored the Medicare legislation during the last session to sign on, in addition to getting new sponsors on board. From the positive tone of most of our meetings in DC, the number of co-sponsors will continue to grow. If passed, the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act would be a game-changer. Here are a few facts: • Medicare arbitrarily limits seniors’ access to chiropractic services. Since 1972, Medicare has restricted the services that doctors of chiropractic are allowed to provide or order for their patients. This limitation has persisted for more than 50 years with no scientific or valid policy basis. • Medicare policy is an uneven playing field for chiropractors treating their patients. DCs are not allowed to furnish existing Medicare services that fall within their scopes of practice. This limitation restricts chiropractors from providing their patients with continuity of care as they age into Medicare, putting beneficiaries at a district health disadvantage. • Patients face delays and higher health care costs to obtain covered Medicare chiropractic services. Beneficiaries seeking chiropractic care MUST FIRST obtain services from another provider to have them covered by Medicare, leading to delays, inconvenience and added expense (copays, time, travel, etc.). If a DC determines the beneficiary needs an x-ray, laboratory services or another diagnostic procedure, current policy does not allow DCs to “order” covered services, leading to further unnecessary visits and extra expenses. • Patients could face more costly or higher-risk procedures that are often unnecessary. Because Medicare’s chiropractic policy is stuck in 1970s-era health policy, patients are channeled to other providers whose standard treatment regimen may incorporate drugs, spinal injections or surgery for a range of spinal conditions. As we know, chiropractic care has been proven to be a less costly and safer alternative. • Chiropractic services are part of the answer for solving the opioid epidemic. As policymakers seek to prevent the use of unnecessary drugs and surgeries, DCs are poised to assist in the opioid effort by lowering the reliance on drugs, especially in cases related to spine pain. However, Medicare policy restricts seniors’ access to chiropractic services. The fight for Medicare equality continues, and your team from Texas is as motivated as ever. A big thank you to our three TCA Executive Officers, Dr. Todd Whitehead, Dr. Don White and Dr. Andrew Oteo; current ACA leaders and TCA Past Presidents, Dr. Tyce Hergert, Dr. Mike Martin, Dr. Max Vige and Dr. Dale White Jr.; and our incredible team leader Dr. Craig Benton. We truly appreciate you taking time away from your busy practices to come to Washington, DC. And kudos to Parker University for sending such an organized and effective group. We did good! We have a lot of work to do, so stay tuned! Now, it is time to turn your attention to your Texas politicians with TCA Legislative Day coming up Thursday, March 6, in Austin. Have you registered yet? Hope to see you there! Jeff Jenkins, CAE TCA Executive Director