Landmark Study of Chiropractic in Medicare Now Available from ICA
	Click Here To Download The New White Paper

The Medicare Committee of the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) is pleased to offer the chiropractic profession the new CHIROPRACTIC AND MEDICARE IN THE 2008 ELECTIONS AND BEYOND. This 28-page discussion paper explores in unprecedented depth many important dimensions of the vital issue of Medicare and chiropractic’s role therein. This document represents the second generation of such an undertaking, and has its foundations in the White Paper on the Future of Chiropractic in Medicare presented by ICA for comment in November 2007. That document was widely circulated within the chiropractic profession with more than 4,000 printed copies disseminated and over 12,000 electronic copies either distributed or downloaded from ICA’s website. That draft paper stimulated over 1,200 individual comments offering a wide range of recommendations and requests for additional data. The substance of those comments was incorporated into this draft where they offered positive ideas or pointed out weaknesses in the level or clarity of information or commentary in the earlier edition.

On April 24th in Washington ICA hosted the profession’s first National Conference on the Future of Chiropractic in Medicare. In a day-long session, seventeen presenters covered a wide array of subjects including the new Recovery Audit Contractors program Medicare has implemented, ongoing documentation challenges, the recently concluded Medicare Demonstration Project, Medicare Savings Accounts, and reviewed the national political landscape in a wide-ranging dialogue on Medicare’s political and economic future. In preparation for that conference, discussions were held with more than twenty Members of Congress, eighty Congressional staff members and hundreds of additional documents were studied.

The process of preparing for the April conference, as well as the presentations made during that day, also added significantly to the data and perspectives that are outlined in this new paper. Inherent in text of this new publication is an urgent call to immediate political mobilization for doctors of chiropractic, students and above all chiropractic patients to defend the unique assets chiropractic brings to the national health care system.

In the coming period of debate on possible national health care reform, the historic experience, social acceptance and perceived success of the Medicare program will guarantee that the model used in Medicare will be at the forefront of such reform discussions. This is all the more reason that the chiropractic profession must position itself as an uncompromising champion of patient rights and competition in the Medicare system. Chiropractic’s response must be anchored in the realities of the situation, both within the profession and in the policy, budget and sociological processes at work in the coming years. Attitude and intentions will likely prove more important than money or intellectual resources. All chiropractic membership organizations must adopt a new, open and realistic attitude, with a focus on solving practical problems and addressing public policy challenges and opportunities with respect to Medicare, without the traditional focus on which organization gets the credit or is perceived as the leader on any aspect of this campaign.

“Chiropractic must not be reluctant about calling for major reforms in Medicare, including a major expansion of chiropractic’s role, as well as a new level of accountability regarding medical errors, pharmaceutical injuries and medical fraud,” said ICA Medicare Committee Chair Dr. Michael Hulsebus. “We must act to hold the positive contribution chiropractic can and does make in stark contrast to a medically dominated approach, rife with fraud and errors, which, in combination, cost Medicare between one quarter and one third of the entire program’s budget. This is in the nation’s best interests and clearly in the best interests of Medicare beneficiaries.”

ICA believes that the chiropractic profession must be prepared, organized and mobilized as never before to defend its legitimate status and patients’ rights in Medicare if the profession is to secure and maintain its rightful place in the national health care community, and as an available service in the nation’s largest health care payment program.

ICA has responded in a positive manner to every invitation and opportunity to seek collective action and positive solutions on the Medicare crisis, and will continue to do so. ICA understands that chiropractic must respond in strength and actively participate in the debate leading up to the national elections in 2008 and beyond, and lead this process with unprecedented determination. To that end, this new paper is dedicated.

The full text of this new document is available online at www.chiropractic.org. Printed copies are also available upon request from the ICA headquarters by calling 703-528-5000.