Chiropractic Included on Arizona Health Care Committee

On August 21, 1996, Arlan Fuhr, DC, was chosen to represent the Arizona Association for Chiropractic (AAC) as the only chiropractor on the Arizona Legislature's Joint Interim Study Committee on Health Care Quality. The historic committee has been created to examine a number of particularly difficult issues that have risen as the result of managed care, and to provide recommendations to the Arizona legislature. The issues include:

1. The establishment of consistent quality measurement standards.

    

2. The availability, affordability and quality of small group health insurance.

    

3. Direct patient access to licensed health care specialties.

    

4. Provider credentialing, contracting and termination.

    

5. Point of service options.

    

6. Provider access of managed care networks.

    

7. Cost implications for patients and employers.

The Committee on Health Care Quality will consist of 10 legislators (five each from the Arizona House and Senate); seven members of the HMO industry; five health care providers; and one representative each from the governor's office and the department of insurance. The five health care providers are Dr. Fuhr, a medical doctor, an osteopathic doctor, a podiatrist, and a registered nurse.

Chiropractic's place on this important committee was supported by a number of the state legislators and is a direct result of the AAC's efforts. The Health Care Quality Committee is part of the ACC's strategy to get all managed care stakeholders to the table for meaningful work on the issues listed above.

Dr. Fuhr looks at it this way: "Other health care providers are experiencing what chiropractors have long known about managed care. We now have an opportunity, working with them and these 10 legislators, to produce a report that could result in the most important legislation we have seen in years. The game has really just begun, but at least we get to suit up and play this time instead of shouting from the sidelines."