Olympic Champion Parra and Attorney McAndrews Set Energetic Tone at ACA Annual Meeting

Inspirational presentations by Olympic speedskating champion Derek Parra and American Chiropractic Association (ACA) attorney George McAndrews set the tone during the ACA's annual business meeting, August 28-30, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Mr. Parra delighted attendees at the annual delegate dinner on August 30 with his moving story about his road to earning a gold and a silver medal in speedskating at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Parra credited chiropractic care with helping him to perform at his peak.

Throughout the three-day meeting, members of ACA House of Delegates (HOD) set goals for the chiropractic profession through a series of policies and resolutions designed to help the profession achieve its vision of parity within the nation's health care system. Among the decisions passed were resolutions backing the development of a comprehensive strategic plan to deal with the stroke issue; several positions urging fairness for the chiropractic profession in the insurance and managed care reimbursement systems; a resolution directing the ACA to seek national and state recognition for doctors of chiropractic to serve in disasters; and an updated, dynamic, long-range plan designed to fully integrate DCs into the nation's health care delivery system and transform the current environment from disease-focused to wellness-based.

Updating the members on one of the important legal strategies the ACA is undertaking to attain fairness in health care reimbursement, ACA General Counsel George McAndrews discussed the implications of the ACA's and Virginia Chiropractic Association's lawsuit against Trigon Blue Cross Blue Shield. According to Mr. McAndrews, the Trigon lawsuit could have enormous consequences for BCBS nationwide, which, in turn, could impact other managed care plans.

HOD members; students; Auxiliary members; state association representatives; and other guests in attendance, inspired by McAndrews' presentation and the magnitude of ACA's legal action, donated or pledged more than $140,000 to ACA's National Chiropractic Legal Action Fund during the meeting.

Elections

The HOD and ACA Board of Governors re-elected all officers to their positions for another term:

• President: Dr. Daryl Wills
• Chairman, Board of Governors: Dr. James Edwards
• Third Member of the Executive Committee: Dr. George McClelland
• Vice President: Dr. Donald Krippendorf
• Governors: Dr. Linda Zange, District II; Dr. Lewis Bazakos, District IV; and Dr. Jerilynn Kaibel, District VII
• Council of Delegates President: Dr. Richard Brassard; vice president, Dr. Glenn Manceaux; and secretary, Dr. David Herd

Additionally, Dr. Mario Spoto was elected to serve as ACAs representative to the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER) and Dr. Robert Mastronardi was elected as the Council of Delegates' representative to the ACA Finance Committee.

Honors

The ACA leadership also took time out to honor its finest:

• Dr. J. Michael Flynn was presented with the 2002 "Chiropractor of the Year" award. Dr. Flynn has been active in the ACA for more than 20 years and serves as ACA representative to the World Federation of Chiropractic.


• Senate Majority Leader Thomas Daschle (D-SD), a long-time proponent of the chiropractic profession on Capitol Hill, was recognized as "Humanitarian of the Year." Sen. Daschle introduced ACA's Medicare x-ray legislation and worked for its passage; worked with the ACA to resolve reimbursement and managed care problems; worked for the passage of legislation creating a new chiropractic benefit for all active-duty personnel in the DoD health care system; and played an integral role in the recent VA victory.

• Dr. Keith Overland, ACA's Connecticut delegate, was named the 2002 "Delegate of the Year." He is the chiropractic consultant for the U.S. Speedskating Team, and was instrumental in arranging the ACA's sponsorship of Derek Parra in the year leading up to his medal-winning performances.


• Dr. Richard Bruns, ACA's Maine Delegate, received the Drs. John Flynn-Robert Lynch Memorial Award, recognizing the outstanding delegate who has served in the HOD for less than five years.


• Dr. Cheryl Hawk, director of chiropractic sciences in the Graduate Studies Department at Palmer College of Chiropractic, was the recipient of the 2002 "ACA Research Award." She has had more than 30 articles published in peer-reviewed journals.


• Dr. Lester Lamm was the recipient of the 2002 "Academician of the Year" award. He is the dean of continuing education and postgraduate studies and the Academic Dean at Western States Chiropractic College (WSCC).


• A "Special Recognition Award" went to Dr. William Meeker, vice president for research at the Palmer Center for Chiropractic Research. He has been prominent in the development of multiple chiropractic research programs, research organizations and interdisciplinary relationships.