2. NEW ACA GOVERNMENT RELATIONS STAFF

I am pleased to announce that I have selected Mr. Jon Hymes as the new ACA Vice President for Government Relations. He was most recently Vice President for Public Affairs for Susan Davis International, Ltd. In this capacity he advised corporate, non-profit, trade association and government clients on a wide range of legislative and public policy issues. In addition to his former role as Director of Congressional Affairs for Comsat Corporation, Mr. Hymes spent time working on Capitol Hill, first as Legislative Director for Congressman Norman Lent, and then as Chief-of-Staff to Congressman Peter King. He's a good one and I think you'll like him. Jon began working with us this past week.

Additionally, Mr. Dennis Smith has accepted the position of Assistant Director of Governmental Affairs. In this capacity, Mr. Smith will split his time between legislative and regulatory matters. He was most recently the Governmental Relations Representative to the American Public Power Association. Prior to that role, he served as Legislative Representative to Taylor and Associates and as a reporter for the Congressional Quarterly. His first position in Washington, D.C., was as a Research Analyst for the Republican National Committee. Mr. Smith began his tenure with us this past week. As you can see, he brings good experience to his new position.

Jon and Dennis will be joining an ACA Government Relations team that includes Rick Miller and Duke Short, with great support from Mildred Owens and Kim Krocker. We plan to fill our Political Action Committee (PAC) Director position shortly.

3. SECURITY CONCERNS FOR NCLC

As you know, our Nation's Capital -- along with the rest of the nation -- is currently operating under Homeland Security Department Code Orange -- the highest "threat" condition that has been implemented since the attacks of September 11. Please be advised that under this threat level, access to the Capitol office buildings and the offices of individual members of Congress and staff is not significantly impeded. Accordingly, we anticipate no significant interference to your efforts to lobby Congress during the National Chiropractic Legislative Conference (NCLC) should this heightened threat level remain in place. There is some speculation that the threat level may be lowered in the near future -- but, as you probably understand, these decisions are made at a very high level of government and changes are not announced in advance. We hope everyone enjoys a productive time when visiting Washington, D.C., and we look forward to one of the most successful NCLC meetings ever.

4. LEGISLATIVE BRIEFS AVAILABLE ON ACA'S WEB SITE

Our Government Relations department has prepared issue briefs for members of Congress dealing with a number of our legislative priorities. Included are briefs on the following: Commissioning of doctors of chiropractic in the Public Health Service; Direct Access in the VA health system; Implementing solutions for the chiropractic profession's ERISA, AHP and Managed Care concerns; ensuring expeditious and appropriate implementation of the National Health Service Corps' Chiropractic Pilot Program; improving chiropractic's position in the Medicare system; ensuring access of doctors of chiropractic in the DOD, and others. If you are attending NCLC or plan to have a meeting with a member of Congress or staff member in your district -- which we encourage you to -- these issue briefs would be good documents to provide to them. We have placed these on the ACA Web site at: <http://www.acatoday.com/hot_topics/>. Simply scroll down to "2003 Issue Briefs" and select the individual files.

5. ACA, TEXAS BACK INSTITUTE FEATURED IN DALLAS MORNING NEWS

ACA media relations staff arranged an interview with the Dallas Morning News that resulted in a positive story about the growing mainstream acceptance of chiropractic care. The article, which ran in the Sunday, February 16, issue of the Dallas Morning News, featured ACA National Spokesperson Jerome McAndrews, DC, and a doctor of chiropractic from the Texas Back Institute. The Dallas Morning News' Sunday edition has a circulation of nearly 800,000.

6. 5th CLAIMS SOLUTIONS WORKGROUP SCHEDULED

For the fifth time since 1999, national insurance leaders are coming to Washington, DC, to meet with ACA leadership to solve billing and reimbursement issues. Past meetings centered on developing policy around fraud and abuse, clinical documentation and medical review practices including coding and reimbursement. These insurance giants, including Allstate, State Farm, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Aetna, GEICO, and others will convene on March 5, 2003 just prior to ACA's National Chiropractic Legislative Conference. For the first time, two insurance trade associations that represent over two thousand insurance companies -- the National Association of Independent Insurers and the Health Insurance Association of America -- will send officials. The purpose of the meeting is to develop a "Chiropractic Claim Adjuster Education Program," designed to place significant chiropractic information in front of hundreds of thousands of line adjusters and other claims handlers such as nurses and fraud specialists. Insurers have requested this type of entry-level orientation, and agree it should be a mandatory part of every adjuster's training. In addition, chiropractic experts Steven Conway, DC, and George

McClelland, DC, will discuss patient case management and the chiropractic model of health care as advanced educational concepts. This forum, known as the Claim Solutions Work Group, is the product of the ACA Insurance and Managed Care Committee, chaired by John Gentile, DC, ACA Delegate to Florida.

7. EVP ADVISORY COMMITTEE CONFERENCE CALL

On January 23rd, we held our monthly conference call with the executive directors and leadership from various state associations. The call included a report from ACA legal counsel Thomas R. Daly, Esq., regarding ACA's recent visit with the Federal Trade Commission to discuss a possible fee survey; an update on Medicare legislation and NCLC; and recent communication with OMB regarding an expanded chiropractic benefit within their Blue Cross/Blue Shield plan. The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for February 27th. Let me know if your state association would like to be informed about these calls. They do provide an opportunity to interact with ACA staff, including legal counsel.

8. COCSA TO LEND ITS EXPERIENCE TO NCLC

The Congress of Chiropractic State Associations (COCSA) has agreed to put on the successful "State Association Roundtable" at ACA's National Chiropractic Legislative Conference on the morning of Saturday, March 8. If you are a state association leader you will not want to miss this opportunity to share experiences and hear from others a different approach to dealing with the common problems that we are all confronting. The Saturday program will include discussions on HIPAA Compliance, Hospital Privileges, and chiropractic in the military.

9. BUSH SIGNS LEGISLATION THAT INCLUDES MEDICARE PAYMENT PROVISION

The President did sign H.J.Res 2 that included a provision providing a legislative fix to the Medicare payment problem, canceling out the anticipated March 1, 4.4% payment reduction for Medicare providers. CBO estimates that the fix will result in a modest 1.6% increase for Medicare providers.

10.A CLOSING COMMENT ABOUT PARKER FROM THE SACA PRESIDENT AT PALMER WEST COLLEGE

Like 8,000 others, Andrew Cohen, a student at Palmer West and President of Palmer West's SACA chapter, attended the recent Parker Seminars in Las Vegas. Andrew was so impressed with the signs of unity he observed at the program that he decided to write down his observations. It should make you proud to be an ACA member. It gives me confidence about the future of the chiropractic profession:

Dear SACA Members and Others,

This weekend I was reminded of how proud I am to be involved with the ACA as the president of Palmer West's SACA chapter. I grew up in a chiropractic family, so I have always known how important and powerful chiropractic is (which is what made me want to be a DC). Yet I never understood why there was so much fragmentation within the profession. I was given various reasons for the division, including differences between the subluxation-based, the straight, and mixers, the history, the idea that "we are all just individuals, and that's why people become chiropractors." But the most reasonable and convincing explanation that I've encountered is the egos. So I always felt I had to work towards unifying the profession.

On Saturday at Parker, I got to see something that truly touched me - a bold step towards unity. Around 11:00 am, all of the leaders of the major chiropractic organizations (ACA, ICA, WCA, etc.) stood together in unity and asked for everyone to contribute to the National Chiropractic Legal Action Fund (NCLAF). They stated that this was a step towards uniting the profession. Yet it was taken to another level when ACA President Dr. Daryl Wills addressed the thousands of chiropractors in the audience a few hours later. He excitedly announced that $500,000 had been raised for the NCLAF. Then he shocked me -- and many others in the audience -- as we momentarily felt the ego stripped from the profession as Dr. Wills announced that it is his goal, along with the ACA's, to reach chiropractic unity. We knew he was serious about this when he offered to step down as President of the ACA in order to form a new United Chiropractic Association. He went on to say that it was time for unity and he was willing to do whatever it took to get there.

That was heartwarming to me because it showed his love for the profession was greater then any ego. That is the true sign of a leader! Thank you Dr. Wills and the ACA. We all know that with unity we can have an exponentially stronger and more effective profession. Soon maybe others will follow Dr. Wills' lead and realize that we are part of something bigger than each of us -- a grand profession that spreads health.

Just wanted to fill the people who weren't there. It was a wonderful moment for the ACA and the profession!

Great seeing some of you, and for those of you who couldn't make it, I look forward to seeing you in March at NCLC.

Sincerely,

Andrew Cohen

11. CAN'T ACCESS THESE LINKS?

Some of you have been unable to download my PDF links. To view these file types, you need Adobe's Acrobat Reader. This is a free utility available at www.adobe.com. If you need further assistance viewing anything referred to in this report, please e-mail me at gcuneo@amerchiro.org.