National Medicare Equality Petition
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The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has launched an initiative with the purpose of providing chiropractors the ability to perform services to the fullest scope of their licenses in Medicare. This effort cannot be realized without support.
The underlying message of this campaign is that the overall health and wellness of the aging population will be enhanced by allowing seniors to stay healthy, pain free and mobile, while allowing chiropractors to be a part of the solution to this growing problem.
Current chiropractic coverage in the Medicare program is essentially coverage of one service, the chiropractic manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation. This coverage was established in 1972, and has since seen little change, other than the elimination of the need for X-ray, which was established in 1997. Although Medicare may only encompass a small portion
of practice for some doctors of chiropractic, Medicare’s impact on the practice of healthcare as well as provider reimbursement is another reason to support this effort. Medicare serves as a model for private insurance plans. Currently Medicare serves more than 55 million individuals. That number is expected to increase by around one-third over the next decade.
AC A is encouraging doctors of chiropractic across the country to ask their patients and other chiropractic supporters to sign the petition www.acatoday.org/equality. It is very simple, go www.acatoday.org/equality, and click “sign the petition.
This will only happen with a groundswell of support that cannot be ignored. Share this page with your colleagues through the digital edition of this magazine at digital. theamericanchiropractor.com, for a mobile friendly version of this message. The time to act is now.
