UnitedHealthcare Corrects Policy Following ICS Request

As the Illinois Chiropractic Society reported in July, UnitedHealthcare released a new medical policy. This policy states that manipulative therapy  as a treatment for neurological disorders (including  headaches) was “unproven and/or not medically necessary.”

Accordingly, the ICS issued a letter to UHC requesting the policy be reconsidered.  The ICS contended the policy was contradictory to current evidence-based practice. We cited five different sources, including a study published in the February 2018 Spine Journal. Additionally, the ICS signed on with 37 other state associations to a broader letter initiated by the American Chiropractic Association in opposition to the UHC policy.

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As a result of the actions of the ICS, the ACA, and others, UnitedHealthcare updated its policy on August 1, 2018, and removed the “unproven and medically unnecessary language” that referred to the use of manipulative therapy as treatment for headaches. The new language now aligns more with the current research regarding headaches.

The Illinois Chiropractic Society commends UHC for making the change and bringing the policy in line with current, evidence-based research.