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Orange County Chiropractic District
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Memorandum To: ACA Members, House of Delegates, Board of
Governors and Other Interested Parties This week's report includes the following items:
1. THIRD MEETING OF THE VETERANS AFFAIRS CHIROPRACTIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN INITIAL TWO Along with members of ACA's Government Relations staff, I attended portions of the Veterans Affairs (VA) meeting held in Washington, D.C., on March 25th and 26th. This was a particularly important meeting as the committee was asked to review the first draft of the document which would eventually become part of the recommendations to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on implementing chiropractic into the VA health system. The draft included the tough issues of scope of practice and access. There was a lot nitpicking on the document, particularly by the non-DC members of the committee, with much discussion about the access problem in particular. I think access is the real sticking point. The VA system is set up as a referral system of health care with PHP being the dominant player. We are basically asking the VA to set up a different protocol to compensate for the bias that exists among the VA medical physicians. The good news is there appears to be a real understanding by all or nearly all of the committee members that a bias or at a minimum at lack of understanding exists with the medical doctors in the system and that something needs to be done to ensure that the prescribed intent of giving veterans access to chiropractic is fulfilled. Public testimony was offered at this meeting and the following individuals and organizations presented: James Edwards, DC, ACA Chairman; Mr. David O'bryon, representing the Association of Chiropractic Colleges; Wayne Wolfson, DC, representing the Federation of Chiropractic Licensing Boards; Matthew McCoy, DC, representing the World Chiropractic Alliance; Mr. David Chapman-Smith, representing the World Federation of Chiropractic; George McClelland, DC, representing the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research; and Mr. Ronald Hendrickson, representing the International Chiropractors Association. Dr. Edwards attended both days of the meeting and prepared a detailed report on it. Its worth reading. The report can found at: http://www.acatoday.com/government/va/032803.shtml 2. VA UNDER SECRETARY MAKES SURPRISE VISIT To the surprise of everyone including the staff of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Robert Roswell, Under Secretary for Health of the VA came to the committee hearing and made a presentation. In a fairly frank and direct manner, he expressed the department's view on the implementation of chiropractic in the VA system. He started by indicating that he didn't believe that chiropractors were primary care providers. However, he believes that we would be an important part of the VA health care team by providing a holistic approach to health care that would improve patient satisfaction, reduce pain and reduce the need for medication. He challenged the committee to think outside of the box as it attempts to bring this profession into the VA system. While we may not like his comments about primary care, the rest of his remarks were encouraging, particularly as they came from the third-highest ranking officer in the department. And they were consistent with the frank remarks made by Secretary Anthony Principi at our National Chiropractic Legislative Conference (NCLC) two weeks ago. While it's too early to declare victory, you do get a sense that at least the Secretary and his high- level staff are going into this process without the biases of past administrations, and that maybe the interests of the veterans will be given priority. Next week we will have the video of Secretary Principi's speech at NCLC, along with video of the comments made by HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and others, available for viewing on our Web site. 3. PASSING OF EDWARD MAURER, DC It is with deep regret that I report the passing of Dr. Ed Maurer last Friday morning at his home in Michigan. Ed did so many great things for this profession. He served faithfully as a member of ACA's Board of Governors, including service as ACA Chairman from 1997 to 1999. He was fair and principled, and was always supportive of the staff. Recently, he was one of the principals on the JACA Editorial Review Committee and had a major influence on the new direction of the magazine. In 2001, he was named ACA's "Doctor of the Year" and recently received a "Chairman's Award" at NCLC. ACA Chairman Dr James Edwards and I traveled to Kalamazoo to represent the ACA at his funeral on Tuesday. Also there to show their respect were Dr Kerwin Winkler, past Chairman of the BOG; Dr Reeve Askew, past 3rd member of the Executive Committee: Dr Phil Knight, delegate from Michigan; Dr Jim Rehberger, delegate from Illinois South; Dr Allen Parry from Logan College and Dr James Cox We will miss him. Contributions in Dr. Maurer's memory can be made to the Edward Maurer, DC Memorial Scholarship Fund at 2330 Gull Rd.,Kalamazoo, Michigan 49048. 4. LAWSUIT UPDATE There is no breaking news to report at this time on either one of our lawsuits, as neither judge has ruled on motions for summary judgments that have been presented. As we await these decisions, we recognize that regardless of outcome, either side will appeal the decisions. As we've stated before, we are in this thing for the long haul. 5. MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE LAWSUITS I am happy to report that March has become the largest single month for contributions in National Chiropractic Legal Action Fund (NCLAF) fundraising history. Total funds raised as of March 25 are $335,000, with nearly a week remaining in the month. This brings the total raised over the last 6 months to $1,175,000, which is close to the 12-month total of $1,357,000 raised in all of fiscal year 2002. This significant increase in contributions is due in large part to the continuing support of our monthly contributors. In the last year, the number of monthly contributors has risen from 269 in March 2002 to over 900 at present. Our goal is to increase the number of monthly contributors to 2000. We must maintain our funding level in order to deal with our deep-pocketed adversaries. We know the court battles and appeals that lie ahead will be costly, and we want to be sure the resources are there to help secure a successful outcome. 6. SUPPORT FROM MANY SECTORS FUELS THE LEGAL ACTION FUND Our successes at Parker-Las Vegas in January and at NCLC in March, plus our monthly contributors, have gone a long way in helping us increase our legal action fund. But it's also the efforts of individual doctors on the state level that are helping the cause. I'd like to highlight this week the efforts made by doctors in Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois. Dr. Ritch Miller reported another successful fundraising effort at the Nebraska Chiropractic Physicians Association convention. They brought in nine additional monthly contributors plus cash. Let's look at what Nebraska has done since 1998: 98 doctors from Nebraska have contributed or are currently contributing. The total from individual doctors is $104,804. In addition, the state association has contributed $55,001. Not bad for a state with only 250+ doctors! Dr. Dow Bates, ACA delegate to Iowa, also reported on his success at the recent Iowa Chiropractic Society conference. He received $5,200 in cash and pledges. Doctors in Iowa have been terrific, raising a total of $70,378, including $3,500 from the Iowa Chiropractic Society itself, $1,000 from the Iowa Society of Chiropractic Orthopedics, $500 from the Northwest Iowa Chiropractic Society and $100 the Southwest Iowa Chiropractic Society. Finally, Dr. Linda Zange, ACA Governor (District 2) did her usual fine work at the Illinois Chiropractic Society meeting last weekend. In addition to providing coverage for the ACA booth and selling ACA products, she also raised over $2,800 in pledges and cash. Illinois doctors and associations have contributed a total of $156,636.60, including $4,000 from the Illinois Chiropractic Society, $4,500 from the Central Illinois Chiropractic Society, $3,600 from the Northern Illinois Chiropractic Society, and $1,800 from the Chicago Chiropractic Society. 7. OHIO DOCTORS TO HOST CONTINUING EDUCATION SEMINAR; McANDREWS TO MAKE APPEARANCE The doctors from the Northeast Ohio district of the Ohio State Chiropractic Association, which includes Cleveland, Youngstown, Canton and Akron, are hosting a continuing education seminar on April 12-13 at the Kent State University Convention Center in Canton, Ohio, where a portion of the funding will go to the National Chiropractic Legal Action Fund. The program will be a great "meat and potatoes" seminar that will give doctors of chiropractic useful information to help them survive and thrive in practice beginning Monday morning. It will teach them how to fight back professionally in a system that is stacked against them and their patients (workers' comp, PI, claim review response, ERISA, URAC, documentation issues and more). It's a pretty good fit with rallying the chiropractic troops around our national 'Simple Justice' legal efforts. In addition to an array of expert speakers, Mr. George McAndrews will be present to provide an update on the lawsuits. If you would like further information, please contact either Dr. Judson Sprandel (330-455-4602; BLUECRUS@AOL.COM) or Dr. Tim Weir (330-452-4040; weirdc@neo.rr.com).
ACA and the Foundation for Chiropractic Education and Research, along with other groups, are proud to co-sponsor the World Federation of Chiropractic's (WFC) 7th Biennial Congress, to be held at the Hilton Hotel in the Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida, May 1-3, 2003. This is the first WFC Congress to be held in the United States since 1995. Over 1,000 doctors from approximately 30 countries are expected to attend. The two major themes of the Congress are management of the cervical spine and sports chiropractic. The outstanding program has 60 lecturers and technique instructors who truly make up a "Who's Who" in chiropractic. The program has been approved for up to 20 hours of CE credits. For full details please see the Congress' Web site at: http://www.chiroweb.com/wfcorlando2003. 9. REVISED MEDICARE MANUAL AVAILABLE ACA's Medicare Solutions Manual is the only chiropractic-specific Medicare resource reviewed for accuracy by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This manual includes a step-by-step guide to billing and collecting, CMS modifiers and codes, an expanded section on documentation and information on P.A.R.T documentation. To keep you up-to-date with any changes in Medicare, ACA has published the 2003 Medicare Solutions Manual Update, which includes updated sections and corrections regarding the Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN), the appeals process, and documentation. The updates also include a revised ABN form, as well as an updated list of Part B state carriers and CMS Regional Offices. Order your Medicare Solutions Manual and receive the 25-page 2003 Medicare Solutions Manual Update for FREE! ACA Member Price: $39.95; Non-member Price: $69.95. Order Item MSM2002. Stay Updated! Already have the Medicare Solutions Manual and want to purchase the updates? ACA Member Price: $19.95; Non-member Price: $29.95. Order Item MSMupdate. 10. PARKER SEMINARS BRINGS TO DALLAS AN "EVENING OF PHILOSOPHY" BY DR. JOHN DEMARTINI Dr. John Demartini is a rare and gifted chiropractor whose span of experience and study encompasses broad scopes of knowledge, philosophy and healing and whose vision is clearly ahead of its time. Hear Dr. Demartini speak at 6:30 pm on Thursday, April 10th at the Parker Seminars in Dallas, TX. And be sure to experience the entire seminar from April 10-13, to be held at the InterContinental Hotel - Dallas. Register today at http://www.parkerseminars.com or call 1-888-727-5338. Chiropractors, health and wellness providers, office teams, exhibitors and patients will come together in the spirit of wellness to join Deepak Chopra, M.D., for his keynote address, "The Spirit of Healing" at 11:00 AM April 11th. This is an event you won't want to miss, so book your flight and hotel today. Call Parker Travel for assistance at 1-877-753-4385. 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. |
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