In what has been hailed as a "huge victory for chiropractic,"
the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill making chiropractic care
available through the Veterans Health Administration. The legislation
gives veterans access to chiropractors at VA medical centers and clinics
for both neuromusculoskeletal conditions and the correction of subluxation
complex.
The passage of the hard-fought bill is the culmination of years of
effort by major chiropractic organizations, which occasionally disagreed
on the exact wording of the provision. The bill was first introduced by
the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), which faced opposition from
medical groups and some veterans associations that feared the provision
would raise health care costs. The ACA successfully coordinated a massive
grassroots campaign to counter the opposition and won widespread
acceptance of the proposal in Congress.
Although
generally supported by other chiropractic organizations, disagreement
arose because the original legislation contained no reference to
subluxation care. Instead, it provided only for "at minimum, care for
neuromusculoskeletal conditions typical of those affecting all age groups
within the eligible veterans population..." Many chiropractic leaders
feared such restrictive language would be used to exclude chiropractic
care for the correction of vertebral subluxation.
To prevent that situation, the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) began
an effort to change the wording of the bill to specifically include
subluxation care. "This one point was non-negotiable," stated
WCA President Terry A. Rondberg, D.C. "To me, it's inconceivable that
any chiropractic bill could be passed without full inclusion of
subluxation correction. After all, that’s what makes chiropractic unique and
essential."
In October 2000, the WCA submitted testimony before the House Committee
on Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health, Hearing on Chiropractic
Service in the Veterans Administration, explaining that, "By failing
to define chiropractic as the analysis and correction of vertebral
subluxation, the current wording in (the bill) excludes an entire category
of chiropractic. If passed with this wording, thousands of licensed,
capable doctors of chiropractic would be virtually barred from providing
subluxation-correction services through the VA system."
Although harshly criticized by some factions of the chiropractic
profession for refusing to relent on this issue, the WCA continued its
aggressive lobbying campaign and eventually enlisted the support of other
organizations, including the International Chiropractors Association (ICA).
Recently, the ICA spoke out in support of the subluxation language, saying
it was necessary in order to "avoid a situation where Department of
Veterans Affairs (DVA) bureaucrats might be able to obstruct or redefine
chiropractic's rightful role in
patient
care."
WCA lobbyist Jim Albertine said the main thrust of the efforts was to
educate legislators about the effect of subluxation on health, and the
unique role of chiropractic in the health care system. "They were
eager to learn and had no difficulty understanding the basics of
chiropractic science and philosophy," he noted.
"The bill is a huge victory for chiropractic," stated Dr.
Rondberg. "It will finally make much needed chiropractic care
available to our veterans and will bring us one step further to making it
part of all federal health care systems."
Rondberg added that the bill was a major success in another way as
well. "The passage of this bill shows us clearly what can be
accomplished when all chiropractic organizations work cooperatively toward
a common goal," he commented. "It could not have passed without
the hard work of the ACA and it would not have contained the subluxation
language if it were not for the WCA. Only by working together could we
achieve what many thought was impossible."
The bill will go before the full Senate in the near future and is
expected to pass with the subluxation language in place.
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