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Orange County Chiropractic District
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Memorandum to: ACA Members, ACA Board
of Governors, House of Delegates and Other Interested Parties In this week's report: 1. VA UPDATE 2. DEADLINE FOR DELEGATE ELECTIONS APPROACHING 3. SIGNIFICANT LAWSUIT CONTRIBUTIONS 4. ACA OFFERS SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP FOR ACTIVE DUTY DOCTORS 5. ACA RESPONDS TO MEN'S HEALTH MAGAZINE 6. MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS FOR 2002 7. FLYNN SPEAKS AT MASTER'S CIRCLE PROGRAM 8. ACA VISIBLE AT HIAA PROGRAM 9. SPECIAL THANKS TO NEBRASKA ASSOCIATION 10. RED CROSS CONTRIBUTIONS 11. ONE-STOP SHOPPING FOR PRACTICE PROMOTION 12. MARK YOUR CALENDER FOR 2002
LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE VA UPDATE This week we'll learn what the Senate
will do with the chiropractic provisions in the Veterans Administration bill.
If you have not already done so, please contact your Senator and ask
him/her to contact Senators Specter and/or Rockefeller to urge their support of
the House of Representatives chiropractic provision. DEADLINE FOR DELEGATE ELECTIONS
APPROACHING Members seeking election as a delegate
or alternate delegate must signify such intent in writing via certified mail by
December 15, 2001 to the corporate secretary of the American Chiropractic
Association, 1701 Clarendon Blvd, Arlington, VA 22209.
Ballots will be sent January 15, 2002, to voting members in Alabama,
Arizona, California-North, California-South, Connecticut, District of Columbia,
Georgia, Idaho, Illinois-Downstate, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland,
Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York-Metro,
North Carolina, Ohio, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont,
Virgin Islands, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
Term of office is two years. For
further details of the delegate election qualifications and procedures, consult
ACA By Laws Article VIII, Section C. SIGNIFICANT LAWSUIT CONTRIBUTIONS FOR
THE WEEK Dr. Louis Sportelli, president of
NCMIC, submitted a personal check for $1,000, following his article in Dynamic
Chiropractic urging all doctors to come forward and make their commitment to the
lawsuit. NCMIC has contributed
early and often to the lawsuit. As
of today, they have contributed $150,000. After hearing Dr. Edwards'
presentation on the lawsuits at the recent COSCA program in New Mexico, Karen
Hammel, executive director of the Colorado Chiropractic Association, presented
Dr. Edwards with a personal check of $200 for the National Chiropractic Legal
Action Fund. Now that is commitment
to the profession. She understands the significance the suit has not only
nationally but also to her doctors in Colorado.
Thanks Karen. Other contributions of note include: Chiro Code Institute,
$1,000; David Singer Enterprise, $2000; Kansas Chiropractic Association's South
Central District, $1,000, bringing its total to $8,000. ACA
OFFERS SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP FOR ACTIVE DUTY DOCTORS Those full general DC ACA member
reservists and National Guard personnel called to active duty during this crisis
period are invited to request that their membership be switched to 'military'
for the term of their service. Military DC membership dues are $60 per annum, as
opposed to the usual $600. Eligible members who had renewed at the full rate
immediately prior to deployment may request a membership extension equal to the
time of their service. Interested
members are asked to contact the ACA Member Information Center at 1(800)
986-4636. ACA RESPONDS TO MEN'S HEALTH MAGAZINE ACA has once again "set the
record straight" with a national magazine.
The December issue of Men's Health magazine features an article on
chiropractic that uses Dr. Samuel Homola and the National Association of
Chiropractic Medicine as its sources. While the article does contain some positive information about
the chiropractic profession - the writer, for instance, gives a very positive
personal account of his experience with chiropractic - it also contains some
misinformation and negative stereotypes about chiropractic.
In a November 16 letter to the editor, ACA President Dr. Daryl Wills
writes, "…[So-called 'rational chiropractors' like Samuel Homola, DC
who are members of the National Association of Chiropractic Medicine (NACM),
represent an extremely small fringe - less than 1 percent -- of the nation's
60,000 doctors of chiropractic. The
American Chiropractic Association (ACA), on the other hand, represents the
majority of mainstream doctors of chiropractic in this country.
Dr. Wills continues, "Contrary to the advice given by Dr. Homola,
chiropractic care has been scientifically proven to be effective for much more
than just back and neck pain. Scientific research has shown that patients who suffer from
chronic and tension headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome, dysmenorrhea and a wide
range of other disorders have found relief from chiropractic care." For a
full copy of ACA's letter to Men's Health, visit the ACA's Web site at www.acatoday.com/media/letters/index.html. MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED AREAS FOR 2002 Each year the Office of Personnel
Management (OPM) is tasked with determining for the purpose of the Federal
Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) which states are considered Medically
Underserved Areas (MUA). MUAs
designated by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are determined
to be those states where 25% or more of the population lives in an area with a
primary medical care manpower shortage. The annual determination for 2002 has
been completed, and those states that qualify as MUAs are: Alabama, Georgia,
Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Louisiana has been removed from the
list for 2002, while Georgia, Montana, North Dakota and Texas have been added. From the doctor's perspective, this
means that, effective January 1, 2002, covered federal employees in the FEHBP
not in an HMO and subject to their benefit contract terms, would be reimbursed
for covered services obtained from any licensed provider in these MUA states. FLYNN SPEAKS AT MASTER'S CIRCLE
PROGRAM Former ACA chairman and member of the
board of governors J. Michael
Flynn, DC, addressed over 1300 doctors attending the seminar in Las Vegas.
Addressing an audience that ACA hasn't always been able to reach in the past,
Dr. Flynn discussed the ACA lawsuit as well as the various legislative gains of
the association. ACA VISIBLE AT HIAA PROGRAM As reported previously, the ACA
exhibited at the recent convention of the Health Insurance Association of
America (HIAA). Over 600
individuals representing all sectors of the health insurance industry were
present. We were given a booth in a
good location at no charge. ACA and
HIAA are making a real effort to improve communication between our two
organizations. During the introductory meeting of the group, the master of
ceremonies noted that 'even the chiropractors were present.' Our booth attracted
considerable interest, with four companies signing up for our future Claims
Solution Workshops. One real
positive story to report - our booth was located next to the AFLAC booth (the
duck was driving our people crazy). The
president of AFLAC, a major insurance carrier, made it a point to tell his
chiropractic story to our representative. He
tried chiropractic care when no other provider was able to treat his condition.
Needless to say the care worked and his opinion of the profession is very
positive. HIAA will be exhibiting and one of our programs and will be promoting
their insurance training programs for doctors and chiropractic assistants. SPECIAL THANKS TO NEBRASKA ASSOCIATION The Specialist, the magazine for the
Nebraska Chiropractic Physicians Association and Secure Care, has dedicated the
November issue to the American Chiropractic Association.
It began on the cover of the magazine with a picture of ACA president Dr.
Daryl Wills, and continued throughout the lengthy magazine with articles about
the various activities of the ACA. We
greatly appreciate the leadership of the Nebraska Association for their coverage
and for their support of the ACA. Just
as an aside, they are a small state with a limited population of doctors, yet
they have contributed over $30,000 to the lawsuit fund. RED CROSS CONTRIBUTIONS ACA members are generous people.
At last count, they had submitted $27,000 to the Red Cross Disaster
Relief Fund via the ACA. ONE-STOP SHOPPING FOR PRACTICE
PROMOTION To save you time and money, we've
packaged effective ad slicks, sample news releases, patient fact sheets, sample
speeches and more into one practical binder for your use all year long.
You'll turn to this resource again and again.
Big discount for ACA members. To
order, go to www.lighthousemarket.net/acastore/product.asp?dept%5Fid=2&pf%5Fid=1
. MARK YOUR CALENDER FOR 2002
LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE The 2002 National Chiropractic Legislative Conference is scheduled for March 6-9, 2002. NCLC 2001 found over 500 doctors and students at the nation's capitol to hear from influential Congressmen and Senators. They also were treated to a surprise visit from Secretary Tommy Thompson. With the significant issues before the profession, the 2002 conference is going to be critical. Mark your calendars and make sure your state association is represented to lobby Congress and participate in the profession's most important meeting of the year. |
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