Following the May 6 release of a report by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) titled "Inappropriate Medicare Payments for Chiropractic Services," the American Chiropractic Association has reviewed the report and strongly disagrees that the data noted in the report supports the policy proposals set forth by the OIG, and will relay these concerns to policy-makers.
As part of its larger strategic plan for promoting chiropractic's full inclusion within the Medicare program and national health reform, the ACA has been actively monitoring the work plans of the OIG and, as a result, had been awaiting the report's release.
A coalition including ACA, the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC), the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations (COCSA) and the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards (FCLB) has been diligently working to assist doctors of chiropractic with navigating the Medicare documentation requirements. A full response to this report will be forthcoming.
When I graduated from chiropractic college in 1981 and started practice, I heard it all, and very little was positive. “You are a quack; you do not know what a subluxation is; you couldn’t get into a real health care program, so you chose the one that is slightly above a mail-order degree; you have no proof that chiropractic works; Are you really licensed?”, and so much more.
| Digital Exclusive
A central challenge in creating our identity is that chiropractic is a method of care, not a technique or procedure. This is an important concept for us to promote. Our patients are treated with lifestyle modification, exercise, nutritional supplements, diet and a whole-body approach to accelerate the natural healing process. We are not simply CMT providers.
The results of a global survey released late last year (2023) unveiled some startling findings among medical and nursing students. The “Clinician of the Future: 2023 Education Edition” surveyed 2,212 students, of which 446 were in the United States, from 91 countries.
