ICS Goes to Capitol Hill
The Illinois Chiropractic Society sent a contingent of chiropractic physicians and staff to Washington, D.C., on January 23, 2025, to meet with members of the Illinois congressional delegation. The mission was part of the American Chiropractic Association’s “Engage2025” initiative.
The Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act has been reintroduced in the new 119th U.S. Congress. The bills, H.R. 539 in the House of Representatives and S. 106 in the U.S. Senate, are identical to those introduced in the last three sessions of Congress. In essence, the bills would authorize the federal Medicare program to provide reimbursement for all chiropractic treatments that are within the scope of the practicing chiropractic physician providing the care. Currently, Medicare only provides reimbursement for spinal manipulation.
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In the last session, the legislation garnered 180 bi-partisan co-sponsors in the House of Representatives. The strategy is to increase co-sponsorship to 200 members, thus triggering a committee hearing on the bill. In Illinois, nine representatives have signed on as co-sponsors in the last two sessions. While at the most recent Washington trip, the ICS team concentrated on those Illinois congresspersons who had not yet committed to co-sponsorship.
ICS President Dr. Erin Strauch-Ducat, Dr. Cindy Howard, Dr. Julie Bird, Dr. Sam Wang, and ICS staff Marc Abla and Ben Schwarm were making the pitch on the Hill. Splitting into small teams, the group met with almost every Illinois congressional office. Due to the hectic legislative schedule in Washington because of the activity of the new Presidential administration, many times, the officeholder was not available for the meetings. In those cases, the Illinois contingent met with upper-level healthcare staffers.
The ICS group met with Congressmen Bill Foster (D-11), Jonathan Jackson (D-1), and Darin LaHood (R-16), and with staff members of Reps. Mike Quigley (D-5), Mike Bost (R-12), Nikki Budzinski (D-13), Delia Ramirez (D-3), Lauren Underwood (D-14), and Senator Dick Durbin. Quick courtesy visits were made with those congressional offices that have already committed to co-sponsorship, including Reps. Danny Davis (D-7), Jan Schakowsky (D-9), Brad Schneider (D-10), Mary Miller (R-15), and Eric Sorensen (D-17).
Congressman Darin LaoodLLHLaHood (R-16) has already signed on as a co-sponsor of the new legislation. It is expected that the other members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation who co-sponsored the bill previously will also co-sponsor it again this session. Meetings with the legislators who have yet to commit to the legislation were generally positive.
ICS members are urged to contact their Congressperson and our U.S. Senators and urge support for the legislation.
