Florida Assoc. Joins ACA Medicare Lawsuit

The Florida Chiropractic Association (FCA) Board of Directors recently voted to involve itself in the American Chiropractic Association's ongoing lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concerning the new Medicare Part C regulations. These regulations are part of the government's new managed care plan that allows DOs and MDs to perform spinal manipulations in lieu of chiropractors.

ACA President James Mertz,DC,DACBR, welcomed the FCA's participation in the lawsuit: "Florida is a state where treatment of the Medicare population is a vital concern for the chiropractic profession. Both the FCA and ACA want to ensure that these Medicare beneficiaries receive the chiropractic care they are entitled to under the law."

In related news, Monte Greenawalt, DC, founder and chairman of Foot Levelers, Inc., has signed on as spokesperson for the ACA's lawsuit against HFCA. He will author fundraising letters and articles in the Journal of the American Chiropractic Association, speak at conferences and meetings, and spearhead other activities to communicate the importance of the lawsuit.

Concurring with Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch, Governor Jesse Ventura has reaffirmed the right of chiropractors in the state to perform physicals on truck and bus drivers. That issue has been a point of contention since 1994, when a Minnesota chiropractor was issued a cease-and-desist order from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to stop performing physicals. MnDOT has regulatory authority over drivers and their employers, but it has no such authority over chiropractors.

Seminars held by Foot Levelers, Inc., along with a speaker program sponsored by the company, contributed more than $174,000 to support chiropractic colleges and state organizations in 1999. Kent Greenawalt, president of the firm, notes that Foot Levelers contributed more than $99,000 in proceeds from its seminars to chiropractic colleges, and underwrote state association and organization speakers, saving these groups $75,000.

Niels Grunnet-Nilsson,DC,MD,PhD, an associate professor of clinical biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark, has been appointed director of studies for the school's chiropractic master's degree program. Dr. Grunnet-Nilsson's appointment marks the first time a chiropractor has taken up the position of chief executive officer in charge of the five-year chiropractic program. The degree program has recently received full accreditation from the European Council on Chiropractic Education.

Doug Andersen,DC,CCN, who writes a monthly column on clinical nutrition for DC, was recently seen on a popular sports cable television network speaking about his duties as the official nutritionist for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League.

Dr. Andersen, a busy clinician in Southern California, has been the medical director for the Association of Volleyball Professionals since 1992. He's an advisor for the Association of Surfing Professionals; has been a consultant for the Green Bay Packers; a treating doctor for the Ballet Pacifica; and a chiropractor for the Bullriders Only Professional Rodeo Tour.

Blue Cross / Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC), the state's largest health insurer, will make chiropractic services available at a 25% discount to its customers through the insurer's alternative medicine discount program, Alt Med Blue. The program includes 400 chiropractors, among other practitioners. The insurer is offering the discount because, in the words of Dr. Robert Harris, the chief medical officer at BCBSNC: "Chiropractic care is among the most frequently used complementary treatments."