Open Letter to Congress: Support Access to Chiropractic Care for Medicare Patients

To the United States Senate and House of Representatives:

Patients come to us for help when they are in pain. They may have an injury, an illness, or are simply feeling the effect of time. Unfortunately, for many of our patients, their lifelong relationship with their doctor ends when they turn 65 and they lose access to their trusted chiropractor because Medicare doesn’t cover many of the benefits they need most.

We’re happy to announce that may finally be changing. Your colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate now have the opportunity to consider the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act, which will ensure seniors have access to all services in Medicare that chiropractors are licensed to provide.

The time is overdue to expand the options for patients in Medicare. Since 1972 when Medicare introduced limited access to chiropractors, seniors were able to access chiropractors, but only for limited services. The medical profession has grown to recognize the benefits of chiropractic care. In fact, in 2017, the American College of Physicians (ACP) updated its guidelines for treatment of low back pain and now recommends using non-invasive, non-drug treatments before resorting to prescription drugs.

We believe all seniors should have the right to choose their licensed care provider under Medicare. With Medicare currently serving more than 55 million Americans, and projections for that number to grow by a third over the next 10 years, we believe Congress should ensure patients have access to all forms of care to prevent high-cost interventions. Importantly, the bill does not add new services under Medicare. It simply allows patients to choose a chiropractor when they wish to do so.

We stand ready to help Congress make that a reality. Together, we can make it happen. We appreciate your support for making patients our top priority.

Sincerely,