The bill that the House of Representatives passed (H.R. 2792)1 to fully establish chiropractic within the health care system of the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) health care system now faces Senate scrutiny. There are negotiations between the two legislative houses to combine H.R. 2792 with other veterans-related legislative proposals and enact it before adjournment.
The thinking by some in the Senate is to provide chiropractic on a "test" basis. Such a scenario is unacceptable to most chiropractors, given that chiropractic has already participated in an extensive Military Demonstration Project that gave high marks to chiropractic care in the military. A "test" to the chiropractic profession is seen as a delaying tactic to incorporate what Congress already mandated the Department of Veterans' Affairs to do last year. Further, as the House has already voted to fully incorporate chiropractic in the VA system, anything less from the Senate is a defeat.
The key members of the Senate VA Committee are the chairman, Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Arlen Specter (R-PA), the ranking member. The ACA has called upon doctors of chiropractic and their patients to contact their senators and urge them to lobby Senators Rockefeller and Specter to support a permanent chiropractic benefit for our nation's veterans similar to the legislation passed by the House.
The most efficient way to contact the senators representing your state is via email or fax.
Contact information on all senators can be found at www.senate.gov or http://thomas.loc.gov.
Below is also provided the contact information for the members of the Senate VA Committee:
Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee
Key members:
John Rockefeller (WV) Chairman
tele: (304) 347-5372
fax:(202) 228-4656
senator@rockefeller.senate.gov
tele: (412) 644-3400
fax: (202) 228-1229
senator_specter@specter.senate.gov
Other Members of the Senate VA CommitteeAkaka, Daniel (HI)
tele:(808) 522-8970
fax: (202) 224-2126
senator@akaka.senate.gov
tele:(202) 224-5852
fax: (202) 224-1933
hotissues@campbell.senate.gov
tele:(208) 342-7985
fax: (202) 228-1067
email: none
tele:(850) 907-1100
fax: (202) 224-2237
bob_graham@graham.senate.gov
tele:(202) 224-2353
fax: (202) 228-3973
senator.hutchinson@hutchinson.senate.gov
tele: (202) 224-5922
fax: (202) 224-0776
senator@hutchison.senate.gov
tele:(802) 658-6001
fax: (202) 228-0776
vermont@jeffords.senate.gov
tele:(202) 224-3643
fax: (202) 228-2090
email: none
tele:(907) 271-3735
fax: (202) 224-5301
email@murkowski.senate.gov
tele:(202) 224-2621
fax: (202) 224-0238
senator_murray@murray.senate.gov
tele:(202) 224-6551
fax: (202) 228-0012
senator@bennelson.senate.gov
tele:(202) 224-5972
fax: (202) 224-1300
senator@thurmond.senate.gov
tele:(651) 645-0323
fax: (202) 224-8438
email: none
When I graduated from chiropractic college in 1981 and started practice, I heard it all, and very little was positive. “You are a quack; you do not know what a subluxation is; you couldn’t get into a real health care program, so you chose the one that is slightly above a mail-order degree; you have no proof that chiropractic works; Are you really licensed?”, and so much more.
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