At the express request of ICA, Representative Ed Schrock (R-VA) an influential member of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee has developed legislation that would extend chiropractic benefits to military dependents and retirees through the federal TRICARE program. Rep. Schrock and his staff worked for nearly a year with ICA Legislative Committee Chairman Dr. Michael S. McLean, a constituent of Rep. Schrock’s, to craft acceptable language and to build a foundation of bi-partisan support for the initiative. Those developmental efforts paid off when Illinois Representative Lane Evans, a leading Democrat well known for his support for chiropractic issues, agreed to be the primary co-sponsor for the ICA led initiative.
"It is an exciting and important effort that is now underway" said Dr. Michael McLean. "TRICARE represents one of the last federal programs in which beneficiaries are denied chiropractic coverage. The Schrock-Evans initiative represents a great opportunity for chiropractic and millions of beneficiaries who need and deserve chiropractic care, and ICA is determined to pass this initiative in the current Congress."
A chiropractic initiative for TRICARE was one of the legislative priorities identified by the Chiropractic Coalition, in which the ICA, the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) and the Federation of Straight Chiropractors and Organizations (FSCO) have joined together to more effectively promote chiropractic’s legislative interests. ICA cooperated with those partner organizations and also offered other organizations an advance opportunity to comment on this initiative, in the hope of building the widest possible support within the chiropractic profession.
“Every attempt has been made to make certain that the language in this bill would be acceptable to all mainstream chiropractors and chiropractic organizations,” said ICA Legislative Committee Chairman Dr. Michael McLean. “We hope that the profession will be mature enough to set aside the differences they have on other legislation to unite behind this important bill.”
Mr. Schrock and Mr. Evans have circulated a "dear colleague" letter to every House Member, asking for cosponsors. In this letter, dated October 29th, Mr. Schrock and Mr. Evans have told their House colleagues:
"We are writing to you today to request your co-sponsorship and support for legislation that we intend to introduce, to begin the process of extending the chiropractic health care benefit in the Department of Defense, to retirees, dependents, and survivors, as part of the TRICARE program. More specifically, our proposed legislation will direct the Secretary of Defense to develop a comprehensive plan to provide chiropractic health care services and benefits for all covered beneficiaries under TRICARE, to include dependents, retirees, and survivors."
The text of the key portions of this new bill includes specific subluxation language and vitally important provisions that specify that no referral is required to access chiropractic services and that chiropractic services can only be supplied by a doctor of chiropractic. The exact language of the new bill reads as follows:
The plan shall require that a contract entered into under section 1097 of title 10, United States Code, for the delivery of health care services shall—
(1) include the delivery of chiropractic services;
(2) require that chiropractic services may be provided only by a doctor of chiropractic; and
(3) provide that a covered beneficiary may select and have direct access to a doctor of chiropractic without referral by another health practitioner. (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN.—The plan developed under subsection (a) shall provide for implementation of the plan to begin no later than December 31, 2003
(d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section:
(1) The term ‘‘chiropractic services’’—
(2) (A) includes the diagnosis (including by diagnostic X-ray tests), correction, and management of vertebral subluxations or neuro-musculoskeletal conditions, and such other chiropractic services determined appropriate by the Secretary; and (B) does not include the use of drugs or surgery.
Doctors of chiropractic from every state in the United States are requested to call their Member of Congress and ask them to join the Schrock-Evans initiative on TRICARE. Because mail to government offices is subject to very long delays, ICA is requesting DCs to call the House of Representatives switchboard at 202-225-3121 and ask to be connected to your House Member’s office.
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