On Jan. 24 1978, the New Zealand governor-general referred to a Commission of Inquiry an investigation to determine the desirability of providing for reimbursement of chiropractic benefits under the New Zealand Social Security Act and the New Zealand Accident Compensation Act. The commision's findings would impact chiropractic worldwide for decades to come.
Dr. Steven Perman Elected to Florida State Legislature
Steven M. Perman, DC, DACBSP, DACBN (NYCC '79) of Boca Raton, Fla., has been elected to the Florida House of Representatives as the representative for legislative district 78. District 78 includes southwestern Palm Beach Co. (western portions of Boca Raton, Delray Beach, and Boynton Beach), as well as portions of Martin County, Okeechobee County, and downtown Ft. Pierce in St. Lucie County. He will be sworn into office on Nov. 16 in Tallahassee.
Dr. Perman has been serving as the chairman of ACA-PAC, ACA delegate for South Florida, and has been chairing ACA's Health Care Reform Task Force since May 2009. He also has been serving on the Board of Directors and as legislative chairman for the Florida Chiropractic Association. In advance of being sworn into office, he has had to resign those state and national positions to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
Dr. Perman has attended the ACA's National Chiropractic Legislative Conference (NCLC) for the past 16 years as team leader and spokesperson for Florida's Capitol Hill visitation team, and perennially teaches a program for SACA attendees at NCLC on how to effectively communicate with legislators. The focus of his annual trips to Capitol Hill for well over a decade has been direct involvement on national legislative issues affecting the chiropractic profession's roles in Medicare and the National Health Service Corps, access to care by active and retired military personnel and their dependents, better graduate student loan programs, and most recently, the role of chiropractic in the recent national health care reform legislation. He writes a diary of his team's congressional office visits, which is published each year in the FCA Journal.
Dr. Perman is requesting to be appointed to serve on committees in the Florida House that deal with health regulation and policy, insurance regulations, natural resource policy and appropriations, and education. He can be contacted with questions at repstevep@aol.com.