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,

Michele J. Maiers, DC, MPH, PHD
President
American Chiropractic Assn.

Michaela E. Edwards, DC
President
American Black Chiropractic Assn.

Michael A. Ciolfi, DC
Chair
Assn. of Chiropractic Colleges

Jay S. Greenstein, DC
Chairman
Clinical Compass

Brenda Holland, DC
President
Congress of State Chiropractic Assns.

Wayne Woldson, DC
President

NCMIC

Joseph Kornfield, DC
President
Northeast Chiropractic Council 

Anthony Hamm, DC
President
West Hartford Group

Brad Frost, DC
President
Alabama State Chiropractic Assn.

Todd Curzie, DC
President
Alaska Chiropractic Society

Andrew O. Williams, DC
President
California Chiropractic Assn.

Jeremy Gordon, DC
President
Florida Chiropractic Assn.

Vince Erario, DC
President
Georgia Chiropractic Assn.

Dean J. Shivvers, DC
President
Hawaii State Chiropractic Assn.

Vijay Patel, DC
President
Illinois Chiropractic Society

Toby Harmon, DC
President
Indiana State Chiropractic Assn.

Laura Rehmer, DC
President
Iowa Chiropractic Society

Jeffery Meyers, DC
President
Kentucky Assn. of Chiropractors

J. Steven Caraway, DC
President
Chiropractic Assn. of Louisiana

Daniel Myerowitz, DC
President
Maine Chiropractic Assn.

Gerard Cassista, DC
President
Massachusetts Chiropractic Society

Lisa Olszewski, DC
President
Michigan Assn. of Chiropractors

Jacob Sundberg, DC
President
Minnesota Chiropractic Assn.

Paul Dupuis, DC
President
Missouri Chiropractic Physicians Assn.

Mike Welker, DC
President
Montana Chiropractic Assn.

Troy Brainard, DC
President
Nebraska Chiropractic Physicians Assn.

Brendan McCann, DC
President
New Hampshire Chiropractic Assn.

Jordan Kovacs, DC
President
Assn. of New Jersey Chiropractors

Ryan Rowes, DC
President
New Mexico Chiropractic Assn.

Anthony Palumbo, DC
President
New York State Chiropractic Assn.

Michael Poplak, DC
President
North Carolina Chiropractic Assn.

Zachary T. Smith, DC
President
North Dakota Chiropractic Assn.

Darla Lammers, DC
President
Ohio State Chiropractic Assn.

Daniel Schatzberg, DC
President
Pennsylvania Chiropractic Assn.

Kristin Kolesar Fabris, DC
President
Chiropractic Society of Rhode Island

Iva B. Hughes, DC
President
South Carolina Chiropractic Assn.

Josh Carr, DC
President
South Dakota Chiropractors Assn.

Brock Martin, DC
President
Tennessee Chiropractic Assn.

Alayna Pagnani-Gendron, DC
President
Texas Chiropractic Assn.

Julia McDaniel, DC
President
Vermont Chiropractic Assn.

Chris Perron, DC
President
Unified Virginia Chiropractic Assn.

Brian Peterson, DC
President
Washington State Chiropractic Assn.

Jenn Bulger, DC
President
West Virginia Chiropractic Society

Chris Resch, DC
President
Wisconsin Chiropractic Association

Nate Deines, DC
President
Wyoming Chiropractic Assn.