New York's highest court of appeals has held that no-fault insurers cannot deny no-fault benefits where they unilaterally determine that a provider has committed misconduct based upon alleged fraudulent conduct. The Court held that this authority belongs solely to state regulators, specifically New York's Board of Regents, which oversees professional licensing and discipline. This follows a similar recent ruling in Florida reported in this publication.
ACA Forms Subsidiary Management Co.
The American Chiropractic Association has formed ACA Professional Services, Inc. (ACAPS), a subsidiary company that will allow the ACA to enter the management consulting field while still allowing the association to retain its non-profit status.
John Pammer, D.C., president of the ACA and the newly formed ACAPS stated: "What the ACA has done is not unusual among professional and trade associations." The new venture, as Dr. Pammer explained, is in response to chiropractors "paying too much for too litte," and being led "innocently into entrepreneurial schemes which are bad for the profession..."
Named to the ACAPS board were DCs John Pammer; Russell Sawyer; David Redding; Edda Vergara; Ray Morgan; Kerwin Winkler; and Lowry Morton. Nannette O'Neal will serve as secretary for ACAPS.
As the initial step to broadening the services available to ACA members and to provide additional revenue for ACA programs, a partnership has been announced between ACAPS and Management Associates Inc. to form The Practice Resource Group (PRG). Richard Vincent, D.C., FICC, chairman of Management Associates and president of the Society of Chiropractic Management Consultants, will be chairman of PRG. The Practice Resource Group will offer what the ACA called "high quality, ethical management assistance at a reasonable cost."
Dr. Vincent assessed the merger: "This marriage brings together the extensive communication network the ACA has with the profession and the state-of-the-art practice management expertise and informational resources our company has developed over the years."
PRG, headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts with offices in New Jersey, will offer practice valuation services, business planning, guidance on associateship and partnership formations, staff training, and a seminar series.