The following are excerpts of a memo from June Gibbs Brown, Inspector General with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It should be noted that Medicare is only supposed to pay "the lower of the estimated acquisition cost or the national average wholesale price" for drugs.
"Medicare allowances for 22 drugs exceeded actual wholesale prices by $447 million in 1996. For the 22 drugs reviewed, Medicare payments would have been reduced by 29% if actual wholesale prices had been used instead of manufacturers' published wholesale prices.In another memo, Ms. Brown states that "Medicare allowances for prescription drugs increased 25 percent, from $1.8 billion in 1995 to $2.3 billion in 1996" (emphasis added). According to the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), Medicare spent "approximately $300 million" for all chiropractic services in 1996. Thus, the money that Medicare was overcharged in 1996 for just 22 different drugs could have paid for all chiropractic care for Medicare recipients, with $146 million dollars left over."For more than one-third of the 22 drugs reviewed, Medicare and its beneficiaries paid more than double the actual average wholesale prices available to physicians and suppliers. For every one of the 22 drugs reviewed, Medicare reimbursed more than the average actual prices in both 1995 and 1996. Not only did Medicare allow more than the average price, the program reimbursed more than even the highest price for every drug."
It is a sad commentary for a country to buy its elderly more than $2 billion worth of drugs each year, but only spend $300 million for hands-on chiropractic care.
When sports chiropractors first appeared at the Olympic Games in the 1980s, it was alongside individual athletes who had experienced the benefits of chiropractic care in their training and recovery processes at home. Fast forward to Paris 2024, where chiropractic care was available in the polyclinic for all athletes, and the attitude has now evolved to recognize that “every athlete deserves access to sports chiropractic."
It is estimated that 61% of patients with CTS avoid taking surgical options due to postoperative complications and costly surgical procedures. Chiropractic care offers a comprehensive and effective treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome, addressing the condition from multiple angles. Recent studies also have unveiled a game-changing adjunct to chiropractic treatments for CTS: nerve flossing.
Some doctors thrive in a personality-based clinic and have a loyal following no matter what services or equipment they offer, but for most chiropractic offices who are trying to grow and expand, new equipment purchases help us stay relevant and continue to service our client base in the best, most up-to-date manner possible. So, regarding equipment purchasing: should you lease, get a bank loan, or pay cash?
