Jun 16 2009
Craig F. Buhler, D.C. Utah ACA Delegate
Dear Utah Chiropractors;
I am writing this letter with deep concern for the future of your practice and the welfare of you, your families and patient’s. As you know, President Obama is committed to passing national health care reform. He and the Democrats have been feverishly working to come up with a package that will completely remodel the health care system. There are three separate groups who are writing different bills to present to congress. None of these three bills at this point include chiropractic coverage. Contrary to what the media is reporting, the Democrats are not including the Republicans in the process. Senator Hatch and a number of other Republicans who have been such great supporters of our profession can not help our cause and so it is more critical than ever that all of us work to make sure that we are included in the new national health plan.
All the studies that have been performed in corporations using the chiropractic wellness model have shown impressive cost saving in medical expenditures. We are an important part of the solution of the current health care crisis. When the national health care plan is passed in what ever form it is, millions of Americans will be accessing more affordable care. This stands to dramatically increase the need for more physicians to supply the demand. Four thousand general practice M.D.s will be retiring this year and the AMA is moving to remove all competitors from the system. Who will supply the demand for physicians? President Obama has stated clearly he wants any national plan to be similar to Medicare and the Blue Cross/Blue Shield Federal Employees Health Plan. Both of these plans spell out specifically that services are rendered by physicians. The American Medical Association in their last conference voted their number one legislative agenda is to pass legislation making it a felony for anyone other than a M.D. or D.O. to us the term “Physician”. This is an effort to carve chiropractic and any other provider group out of the plan. As you all know, Medicare will not allow us to bill or charge patients for the chiropractic service. We are r equired by law to bill Medicare. The threat is we may not be allowed to treat patients or if we are allowed to treat them, it will be based on a referral from an M.D. or D.O. California has alresdy passed such legislation. We could all be out of practice with the stroke of a pen. Some of you have indicated you would simple go to a cash practice. My question to you is, if every American is under national health care, as all Americans over 65 are under Medicare, who will you legally charge cash from?
The plans also include a provision that requires scientific evidence for procedures used in order to be reimbursed for those services. How many studies show the techniques you are presently using are effective? Even if chiropractic is included in the plan, are you willing to limit what you do because you can not show, based on research, that your technique or procedures works?
Our profession is faced with the most critical challenges in its history. I have spent hundreds of hours on my days off traveling the state visiting many of your offices. I have made hundreds of phone calls and sent out numerous emails trying to get you to join the ACA, ICA and get your patients to go on line and register on
www.chirovoice.org in an effort to get moral and financial support to address the issues that we all face. Many of you committed to me that you would join and have your patient’s sign up for chirovoice. To date none of you have joined and we only have 137 patients who have registered on the chirovoice site in the state of Utah. Frankly, I have never worked so hard for anything and accomplished so little. This is not about Dr. Buhler if any of you have issue with me. This is about you and the future of your profession. I have seen what you all have created thru your apathy and inaction in this state. If it were not for the very few amazing doctors willing to put their butts on the line that we have the practice act we have. It is one of the best in the country.
so that we can impact congress and direct the outcome of the national health care plan. Have everyone you know contact their representatives in Washington to include chiropractic in the plan. Use the chirovoice site to help you. We are cost effective and can compete if we are allowed. Can you imagine what we can accomplish if 60,000 chiropractors and their patients contacted their representatives in an effort to impact our level of participation in national health care?
