Active Duty Military Personnel Guaranteed Access
to Permanent Chiropractic Benefit
Washington, D.C.-Culminating nearly a decade of joint lobbying efforts by
the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and the Association of
Chiropractic Colleges (ACC), the U. S. Congress last week passed historic
legislation mandating that chiropractic care be made available to all active
duty personnel in the United States armed forces. The legislation, formally
known as the Fiscal Year 2001 Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4205), is due
to become law once it is signed by President Clinton, an action expected to
occur within a matter of days.
ACA Chairman, Dr. J. Michael Flynn, called passage of the legislation the
biggest chiropractic legislative victory in 26 years. "A whole new health
care system - one of the largest in the nation - will now be opened up to
the chiropractic profession. For the first time, all active duty military
personnel will be guaranteed access to a permanent chiropractic benefit,"
Dr. Flynn stated. "Most importantly, we have achieved inclusion on a broad
scope basis, and have successfully avoided a very narrow, Medicare-like
benefit," Dr. Flynn added.
As passed by Congress, H.R. 4205 requires access to chiropractic services
"which includes, at a minimum, care for neuromusculoskeletal conditions
typical among military personnel on active duty."
According to ACA officials, passage of the legislation required years of
effort and occurred despite powerful opposition by the Department of Defense
(DoD) and various medical groups.
"This was a difficult and protracted battle," said Dr. James A. Mertz,
president of the ACA. "We had to fight a hostile and entrenched bureaucracy
every step of the way. The key to this victory was persistence and hard
work. The ACA and ACC kept pressing Congress on the issue. We simply
refused to give up," said Dr. Mertz.
H.R. 4205 requires that full implementation of the benefit be phased in over
a five-year period, throughout all three service branches of the military.
When completed, all active duty personnel stationed in the United States and
overseas are to have access to the chiropractic benefit. The legislation
further requires the DoD to develop, by March of 2001, a full
"implementation plan" to ensure the benefit is adequately provided. ACA and
ACC also fought for - and won - a provision in the legislation requiring
that DoD consult with the chiropractic representatives serving on the
Chiropractic Health Care Demonstration Project's (CHCDP) Oversight Advisory
Committee regarding the development and implementation of the phase-in plan.
According to ACA officials, passage of the legislation could result in the
commissioning of doctors of chiropractic as officers in the military.
The chiropractic members of the Oversight Advisory Committee included Dr.
George Goodman, Dr. Reed Phillips, Dr. Rick McMichael, Dr. Richard Beecham,
Dr. Ronald Evans, and Dr. Peter Ferguson.
The CHCDP Oversight Advisory Committee was established as a result of
previously-passed legislation, authored by the ACA and ACC, which mandated
that DoD conduct a "pilot program" to demonstrate the "feasibility and
advisability" of integrating chiropractic into the military health care
system. That legislation passed Congress in 1995. It was further modified
in 1998 and resulted in chiropractic care being offered on a test basis at
13 military treatment facilities within the United States.
In March of this year, the DoD released a final report on the results of the
pilot program. Data contained in the DoD report clearly demonstrated: 1)
higher levels of patient satisfaction with chiropractic care vs. traditional
medical care; 2) superior outcomes for patients receiving chiropractic care
vs. traditional medical care; 3) fewer hospital stays resulting from
chiropractic care; and 4) significant improvements in military "readiness"
due to chiropractic care vs. traditional care because of a large reduction
in lost duty time.
Despite the positive results of the pilot study, the DoD continued to oppose
the integration of chiropractic care into the DoD health care system on a
permanent basis, citing a high-dollar "cost estimate" for adding
chiropractic care as a benefit for military personnel. However, a separate
cost analysis developed by the chiropractic members of the CHCDP Oversight
Advisory Committee with the assistance of ACA, ACC, and ACA's consulting
firm, Muse & Associates, concluded that the integration of chiropractic care
into the military would produce a net dollar savings of $25 million a year
for the DoD, and Congress was persuaded to mandate the inclusion of the
chiropractic benefit over DoD's objection.
"The remarkably focused Oversight Advisory Committee and the doctors of
chiropractic at the 13 demonstration sites provided an outstanding service
to our nation's military and to the chiropractic profession," explained Dr.
Kenneth Padgett, president of ACC.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL: GOVERNMENT RELATIONS (800) 986-4636.
