On November 12th, 1998, the American Chiropractic Association filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court against the Department of Health and Human Services. (See "Chiropractic on the Medicare Chopping Block?" DC, Nov. 2, 1998 and "ACA Files Lawsuit against HCFA" DC Dec. 14, 1998). The suit was filed as an effort to block impending Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) regulations governing Medicare Part C programs.
The HCFA was established in 1977 under Health and Human Services with the responsibility of administering the nation's Medicare and Medicaid programs. On July 27th, 1998, HCFA preliminarily began implementing regulations which could have a deleterious effect on the chiropractic profession and the Medicare patients chiropractors treat. The ACA took legal action in an effort to force HCFA to adopt policies that will guarantee enrollees in Medicare/managed care programs access to chiropractic.
The ACA complaint, which was filed in the District of Columbia, is now available on line at chiroweb.com, the website of Dynamic Chiropractic. Users can access and print a complete electronic version of the complaint at www.chiroweb.com/special/acacomplaint.html.
For more information on the ACA's lawsuit against the federal government, contact the ACA at (703) 276-8800 or (800) 986-4636.
