After nine years of struggle, New York State Chiropractors finally see passage of Insurance Equality law.
August 20, 1997 6:10pm
Around 6:10pm on Wednesday, August 20th, 1997, New York Governor George Pataki signed into law Chiropractic Insurance Equality Bill (S.5594/A.8431).
The bill will attempt to make reimbursement for similar conditions more equitable among the various professions. Chiropractors have been struggling to obtain a new Insurance Equality law for the better part of 9 years, with most attempts being thwarted by various Big Business concerns.
However, with seemingly unending negotiations between the Governor's office, the NY Business Council and the various chiropractic organizations in NY, the bill's passage and signing came to fruition in 1997.
The law will become effective January 1, 1998, and will be integrated with any new or renewed insurance policies. This will require insurance carriers to provide a minimum of 15 medically necessary visits per year. Further visits are subject to prior review and approval at the option of the insurer. This provision "sunsets" in 2 years, after which chiropractic cannot be treated any differently than any other category or class of provider treating the same or similar condition, injury, complaint, disorder or ailment. This ambitious legislation also prohibits carriers from applying utilization management procedures and additional higher deductibles or co-pays to chiropractic care that are not used for medical care.