Sacramento for arraignment. The government is seeking bail of S7.9 million. The owner's wife is apparently a fugitive, but is believed to be in her native Germany. According to an IRS agent's search warrant affidavit, the couple's holding and management companies paid SI,390.914 in "consulting fees". S520.000 for "principal payments on loans" and $313,640 for "interest on loans" to the wife's mother, between 1995 and 1998. even though the mother died in May 1994. The tax returns for the couple's companies also reflect huge deductions for consulting payments to the deceased mother. New York State Chiropractic Association Files Suit NEW YORK: After more than two years of educating and patiently trying to coax insurance carriers, managed care organizations, utilization review firms and various provider networks into compliance, the New York State Chiropractic Association (NYSCA) finally decided it had had enough and directed its legal counsel to file suit on behalf of the NYSCA and five other plaintiffs, charging various defendants with violations of New York State's chiropractic Insurance Equality Law. The six defendants: Vytra Health Plans Long Island. Inc.: Access Health. IPA, Inc.; Capital District Physicians' Health Plan, Inc.; Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York, Inc.; Chiro Management, Inc.; Physicians Health Services of New York, Inc.; and Landmark Healthcare IPA of New York, Inc. are charged with fee discrimination, unreasonable fee and benefit limits, improper restriction on the scope of chiropractic practice and the services chiropractors provide to plan beneficiaries. IPA'Nctwork misrepresentations and tactics, onerous utilization review practices that only discriminate against chiropractic patients and providers in violation of New York Law. According to the NYSCA Executive Director. Karl C. Kranz, DC. "We have to force the issue. Left unchallenged, carriers and managed care companies will just continue to disregard the law and run roughshod over chiropractic patients and providers. Chiropractors and their patients have had enough." Governor Ventura Stands Tall for Chiropractic MINNESOTA: Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura's recent statement re-affinning the right of truck and bus drivers to have physicals performed by doctors of chiropractic is welcome news to Minnesota chiropractors. The statement reinforces the longstanding practice of accepting signatures on health physicals and is consistent with a recent opinion issued by the office of Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch. The physicals performed by doctors of chiropractic meet the same requirements as those performed by medical doctors to certify a clean bill of health for Minnesota's truck and school bus drivers. Over the road, truck drivers can confidently return to their Doctor of Chiropractic for their physicals. "This is a great President of the Minnesota Chiropractic Association. "It's been a long time coming." The issue became clouded in 1994 when a Minnesota doctor of chiropractic was issued a "cease and desist" order by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to stop performing physical exams for truck drivers. The Minnesota Department of Transportation has no authority to discipline doctors of chiropractic; however, they do have regulatory authority over truck drivers and their employers. Over five years, the Minnesota Department of Transportation had nearly eliminated chiropractors from the consumer market for these bi-annual required physicals. It became a legislative issue in 1995 and. in 1996. was the basis for a threat by then-Governor Arne Carlston to veto a funding bill for all road and bridge projects in the state. The MCA had been working with Governor Ventura to resolve this issue and avoid pending litigation. Wisconsin Chiropractic Association Forced to Settle under FTC Complaint WISCONSIN: The Wisconsin Chiropractic Association (WCA) and its executive director. Russell A. Leonard, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that they orchestrated a conspiracy among WCA members to increase prices for chiropractic services and to boycott third-party payers to obtain higher reimbursement rates. The result, the FTC said, was higher prices for consumers of chiropractic services. The proposed settlement would prohibit the WCA and Leonard from fixing prices for any chiropractic goods or services, or the terms of third-party payer contracts. The WCA provides a detailed response to the points addressed in the complaint made by the FTC which indicates that the FTC's complaint may not be well founded. In closing, the WCA responds: "In the process of their investigation, it was simply astonishing how often the FTC took unrelated information and independently linked them together to form an allegation of wronudoinu on the part of the WCA or its executive director. Had we spent the hundreds of thousands of dollars necessary to fight this complaint, we believe we would have been vindicated on each and every point. The WCA is not in the business of determining the winners or losers in the chiropractic profession. The proof is in the vigorous competition that exists in every city across Wisconsin. WCA members have a wide variety of business interests. Our job has been to provide accurate, professional information to our members, and we will continue to do so in an unbiased manner." For a complete report of the FTC's allegations and the WCA Response, you may contact the WCA at 608-256-7023. Pass on the information to warn other DCs about events that are really happening to chiropractors. When you see a "yellow page" article in vow local, regional, or national newspapers about chiropractic or vow fellow chiropractors, fax or mail it to its at TAC for further investigation. Fax to: (603) 309-8958 or see page 10 for our mailing address.
