Contact Your U.S. Representative Today!

H.R. 2654, the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act, has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Please contact your U.S. Representative TODAY and ask him/her to co-sponsor the bill. Click here to find your representative, and suggested language is below:

Dear Rep. ______________,

As a constituent, I am writing to ask you to cosponsor H.R. 2654 - the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act.

Since 1972, a one-sentence restriction, applied only to Doctors of Chiropractic (DC), has unduly limited chiropractic care for Medicare beneficiaries to a single service. Unlike other forms of insurance, Part B Medicare arbitrarily limits DCs from providing care that is within their state scope and licensure. What this means for patients is that they are forced to see another provider and pay an additional co-pay to access covered diagnostic services that a DC is licensed to provide, before returning to their DC to receive care. Not only is this inconvenient and costly for patients, many on fixed incomes, it delays much needed care and unnecessarily adds additional costs to Medicare.

H.R. 2654, the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act, bipartisan legislation introduced by Rep. Brian Higgins (D-N.Y.) corrects this inequity and allows Medicare patients the ability to access the full range of Medicare-covered services that a chiropractor can provide under their state licensure. As you are aware, chiropractors provide a drug-free treatment options for lower-back and neck pain, so this legislation is also an important tool in the fight against the enduring opioid crisis.

Doctors of chiropractic are licensed in all 50 states as portal-of-entry providers whose scope of practice-as defined by respective state law-allows them to provide a broader range of services compared with what is currently allowed under Medicare. State scope recognizes the education and training of DC's to examine, diagnose, treat and refer patients. Medicare service coverage for other Medicare providers, including MDs and DOs is determined by state scope of practice. Likewise, the coverage for chiropractic services in Medicare should reflect the scope of practice determined appropriate by state authority.

Allowing American seniors the ability to choose the provider of their choice is a key element of the Medicare program. I believe that choice should include chiropractors too. I urge you to contact Rep. Higgins and cosponsor H.R. 2654 the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act.

Sincerely,

Your Name