Insurance Win for Illinois DCs, Other Providers
Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn has signed H.B. 1193 into law, which amends the Illinois Insurance Code to, among other stipulations, limit the time frame an insurer has to recoup funds from a doctor of chiropractic or other health care provider for claims already paid. According to the text of the legislation, which takes effect Jan. 1, 2012 and was supported by state provider organizations spanning various health care disciplines, including the Illinois Chiropractic Society, dental and medical associations:
"No recoupment or offset may be requested or withheld from future payments 18 months or more after the original payment is made, except in cases in which: (1) a court, government administrative agency, other tribunal, or independent third-party arbitrator makes or has made a formal finding of fraud or material misrepresentation; (2) an insurer is acting as a plan administrator for the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan under the Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan Act; or (3) the provider has already been paid in full by any other payer, third party, or workers' compensation insurer. No contract between an insurer and a health care professional or health care provider may provide for recoupments in violation of this Section."
NBCE Building Recognized for Design Excellence
The National Board of Chiropractic Examiners (NBCE), headquartered in Greeley, Colo., was recently honored with a City of Greeley Excellence in Community Design Award from the city planning commission. The awards are presented annually to architects, builders, landscape designers and others who have achieved excellence in a local project, with winners selected by a seven-member panel of judges recruited from the Greeley community.
The NBCE's Horace Elliott Center received the design award, which honors building projects that "demonstrate outstanding construction, design and execution," according to an NBCE announcement. Completed in mid-2010, the 15,000 square-foot meeting facility is named after the board's longtime executive vice president. Elliott has served as chief operating officer of the NBCE since 1986.
Rare Honor for Greenawalt
Kent Greenawalt, president of Foot Levelers and founder of the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, received the Fellowship Award from the International College of Chiropractors Incorporated. Generally reserved for doctors of chiropractic, the award honors "valuable and meritorious" service to the profession.
