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Orange County Chiropractic District
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Memorandum
to: ACA Board of Governors, House of Delegates and other interested Parties The ACA
Office is open and defiant! This report was written before the tragedy of September 11th. Our way of responding to
terrorism is to do the one thing
they tried to disrupt, and that is continue to do what we do best. We are
working with the National Red Cross regarding this matter and will be sending a memo to you shortly on how you can help
the victims , should you wish to do
so. In this
report: 1.
TIME TO MOVE ON THE WATKINS BILL TIME TO
MOVE ON THE WATKINS BILL A key
element in ACA's legislative agenda is the expansion of chiropractic care in the
Medicare program. ACA's efforts have been focused around an important
chiropractic bill (the Chiropractic Patients' Freedom of Choice Act -- H.R. 902)
introduced by Congressman Wes Watkins. This legislation would grant "full
physician status" to doctors of chiropractic and provide reimbursement for
doctors of chiropractic for Medicare services in their state scope of practice.
This legislation has received strong bipartisan support in the House of
Representatives. Since its introduction in March of this year, H.R. 902 has
already received 47 co-sponsors. To increase the support of H.R. 902 and work
for its passage into law, the ACA has initiated an intense grassroots and
lobbying campaign. This effort will not be easy, as many large medical groups
may oppose the final passage of this important chiropractic legislation. To
achieve victory in this important issue, the chiropractic profession must rally
around H.R. 902. If you have not contacted your Senator or Representative about
H.R. 902, it is imperative that you do so. If you have already contacted your
Senator or Representative, please follow up with them and keep the pressure on.
For your convenience, I have attached a copy of the latest legislative alert
bulletin to this e-mail. You
should be aware that Congressman Watkins is taking important steps to actively
push this bill. He is planning to send a "Dear Colleague " letter to
members of Congress urging that they co-sponsor the bill. Included
in the letter is the reference to the Muse report. Watkins writes, "…I
call your attention to a recently concluded study by the well known firm of Muse
and Associates. The Muse study compared the most recently available CMC Medicare
cost and utilization data for those beneficiaries that received chiropractic
care versus those beneficiaries that only received traditional medical care. The
Muse study found that the global per capita Medicare expenditures for
chiropractic patients were significantly lower than the same costs for
non-chiropractic patients." The Muse study concluded, "Chiropractic
care significantly reduces per beneficiary costs to the Medicare program. The
results of the study suggests that chiropractic services could play a role in
reducing costs Medicare reform and/or a new prescription drug benefit." The
letter coming from a prominent member of Congress is important, but your letter
as a constituent will be more important. DR. GOTT
MAY FINALLY BE GETTING IT For as
long as I can remember, whether the ACA or the California Chiropractic
Association, we have been writing letters to syndicated columnist Dr. Peter Gott
in response to his critical comments about chiropractic. Recently
we have been working with a contact who is fairly close to Dr. Gott in an
attempt to bring him around to a more balanced presentation of chiropractic.
We'd like to think that some of this effort is finally paying off. In his latest
column, a reader writes to Dr. Gott asking for information about fibromyalgia
and how it can be treated. Dr. Gott first talks about "traditional"
therapy under the care of orthopedic surgeons and rheumatologists. But then he
says, "If these methods have not helped you, I suggest that you see a
chiropractor. An intensive program of spinal adjustments may solve your problem.
Chiropractors are quite skilled at managing back ailments and, in my experience,
can frequently obtain favorable results that have evaded doctors and the
traditional medical establishment. I believe this is an appropriate option for
you. Let me know what happens". It's an important start, and we intend to
thank him for his comments. POSITIVE
MEDIA COVERAGE ON HEADACHE STUDY ACA's
media relations staff provided information for a very positive segment on
chiropractic care for headaches that is being aired by NBC-TV affiliates across
the country. The segment, which originated with the NBC-TV affiliate in New York
City and is now being picked up by NBC stations nationwide features the recent
Duke University study on chiropractic's effectiveness for headaches. In
early August, WNBC-TV in New York called ACA for information on chiropractic
care for headaches. As a result, the media relations staff provided the station
with a news release the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research (FCER)
and the ACA had issued collaboratively earlier this year, as well as ACA's
"For Your Health" fact sheet on chiropractic care for headaches. ACA
has heard positive reports from members in Washington, D.C., Florida, Illinois
and Alabama regarding the news segment. While we
helped facilitate the distribution of the Duke Study to the media, FCER is the
real hero in this matter. FCER had the foresight to fund the continuation of the
headache study with Duke University after it had been dropped by the federal
government because of pressure from the orthopedic surgeons. This type of
positive press can never be duplicated with paid advertisements. FCER is to be
commended for its effort. ACA and FCER make a good team. JIM ROME
SHOW: SOMETIMES TAKING THE HIGH ROAD ISN'T APPROPRIATE You
undoubtedly heard by now about the disparaging comments made by sports
commentator Jim Rome during a recent airing of his program, which is carried by
130 radio stations. Rome was commenting on the interview he had conducted
earlier in the day with the owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, who had been
treated the day before by her chiropractic doctor. We obtained a copy of the
taped interview. Here are some excerpts from the transcript: "She
told me a great story. She told me that she had gone to see her chiropractor
before the show. The chiropractor dropped the same line on her that every
chiropractor does every client: 'My goodness you're stiff, you sure have a tight
back, what's the problem?' And she related to the 'doctor', the 'doctor' that
she felt especially stressed because she was about to appear on the Last Word
with Jim Rome. Now let me stop you here for a minute. Of course, he told her
that she felt especially stressed. That is the way these witchdoctors get you to
come back. Even if there is nothing wrong with you, they let you know that there
is something wrong with you..." And it
gets worse. Not
content with the bashing of the profession on this day, he took another swipe a
few weeks later while comparing us with firefighters. He stated that unlike
chiropractors, firefighters make a major contribution to the community. We
prepared a strong response to Mr. Rome, even before we had a chance to review
the transcript. But frankly the transcript raises our hackles. We all recognize
that it is difficult to take on a celebrity with 130 radio stations, sometimes
giving the issue more life than would have been the case if we did nothing. More
times than not we simply direct a letter to the individual pointing out his
mistake with the hope that the next time the individual will present a more
balanced view. It seems that course of action may be finally working with Dr.
Gott. But sometimes an individual's comments against this profession are so out
of the box that it requires the equivalent of a declaration of war. While our
legal options are not many, we do have the option to exercise our right to
protest these actions. And plan to do so. We need to let the stations and
advertisers who carry this guy know what we think about his remarks, and we need
your help to let the message be heard loud and clear. By clicking this link to
our Web site, you will find out exactly what you will need to do to help: www.acatoday.com/media/letters/jim_rome2.html.
If you have any questions, please contact Patrick Bernat, ACA's Public and Media
Relations Manager, at pbernat@amerchiro.org. SACA
LEADERSHIP ON THE MOVE If anyone
has any doubts about the future of chiropractic, they should put those doubts
aside. During SACA's annual meeting, held in conjunction with HOD, 60 SACA
students, including the SACA national officers and chapter officers representing
fifteen chiropractic colleges, met in Florida to elect new officers and to set
goals for the year. Here are the goals they established: 1.
Increase by 15% the number of SACA students. With
their elected leadership (listed below) leading the way, I would not bet against
them: NATIONAL
SACA CHAIR Lisa Olszewski (Palmer) NATIONAL
SACA VICE CHAIR Craig Caviness (NYCC) NATIONAL
SACA LEGISLATIVE CHAIR Nick A. Mellum (NWCC) NATIONAL
SACA VICE LEGISLATIVE CHAIR Dana Weissmann (NYCC) IMMEDIATE
PAST SACA CHAIR Dr. Nicole M. Hewitt SCHOLARSHIP
WINNERS ANNOUNCED Last week, the ACAuxiliary and ACF, with the approval of the ACA Board of Governors, announced the following scholarship winners of the Scholarship:
The
scholarship committee which reviewed and recommend the winners included the
following: Dr. Keith Overland, Dr. Roger Combs, Mary Broeg of the ACAuxiliary,
and Dr. Mike Perusich. The Auxiliary and the ACF combined their resources in
providing these scholarships. SPONSORS
AT HOD The
following sponsors contributed a total of $23,500 in support of our annual
meeting in Florida. Please thank them when you have the opportunity 1.
Data Trace Publishing Company |
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