George McAndrews, general counsel for the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), recently addressed a meeting of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC) about the ACA's lawsuit against the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA). The ACA filed suit against HCFA in November 1998 to contravene Medicare's managed care plan that allows MDs, DOs and PTs to perform spinal manipulation in lieu of chiropractors.
Mr. McAndrews presented the chiropractic college presidents with copies of documents pertaining to the lawsuit and explained how vital it was for the chiropractic profession to rally around the lawsuit.
Following Mr. McAndrew's presentation, there was a motion to contribute $50,000 to the lawsuit. The official announcement of the funds for the lawsuit came on July 22. "We feel that by making this contribution, others will see that the ACA is doing the right thing by representing the profession in this legal battle," said Dr. Kenneth Padgett, president of the ACC and the New York College of Chiropractic.
"This contribution is significant because it impacts everyone: the chiropractic colleges, the members and doctors and the state associations," noted Dr. Michael Pedigo, ACA president.
The ACC is comprised of 17 member chiropractic colleges: CCKC; CCLA; LACC; Life University; Life West; Logan; National; New York; Northwestern; Palmer; Palmer West; Parker; Sherman; TCC; U. of Bridgeport; Western States; and CMCC.
