Medicare Legislation Introduced to Cover Full Scope Services
Congresspersons Brian Higgins (NY) and Tom Reed (NY) introduced bipartisan legislation championed by the American Chiropractic Association designed to allow for the reimbursement for services provided by chiropractic physicians within the full scope of practice. H.R. 3654 known as the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act of 2019 would bring the chiropractic profession into line with private insurance reimbursement and other federal health care providers.
“The Illinois Chiropractic Society has taken a long-standing approach to participating and investing in efforts that bring parity in Medicare. We look forward to working with the ACA and Illinois Congresspersons and Senators to advance this critical federal legislation,” said Illinois Chiropractic Society President, Dr. John Panopoulos. Additionally, the ICS has officially signed on to the open letter to Congress in strong support of this legislation, and key leaders and staff will be meeting with Congresspersons in the coming months.
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The legislation does the following:
- Defines a chiropractic physician as a “physician” in the Medicare program.
- Provides patient access to all Medicare-covered benefits within the scope of a chiropractic physician’s license.
- Requires that chiropractic physicians complete a documentation webinar in order to be reimbursed for services other than the adjustment.
The ICS is strongly encouraging Illinois chiropractic physicians to contact their legislators. The ACA has made it simple for doctors to contact legislators through their legislative action center. You can take action now here.
