Urge Your State Senator to Oppose Work Comp Medical Fee Schedule Cuts
Editor’s Note: This information is from a previous general assembly and is no longer relevant. However, we continue to provide the talking points and information for our member’s reference and a greater understanding of the political process. Previous links to contact forms have been removed.
Urge Your State Senator to Oppose Work Comp Medical Fee Schedule Cuts
The Illinois Senate has introduced legislation aimed at reforming the workers’ compensation system. Among the provisions included in the legislation – limits to chiropractic treatments and medical fee schedule reductions. The bill seeks to limit visits for chiropractic, occupational therapy and physical therapy to 24 visits in total.
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Action Needed:
Contact your state Senator NOW, and urge her or him to oppose SB951 and any legislation that seeks to limit chiropractic visits or includes a reduction in the Workers’ Compensation Medical Fee Schedule. Use the American Chiropractic Society’s Legislative Action Center to find your State Senator’s contact information. Enter your entire address in the “Find Your Elected Officials” field on the right and click Go (example). Your State Senator will be towards the bottom of the resulting page (example). Click on his or her picture to find the Springfield Office phone number.
Talking Points:
24 visit limit:
- Chiropractic care is critical to the health system, and arbitrary limits to care are not in the best interest of a patient’s health.
- No change is necessary, because current workers’ compensation law already has mechanisms in place to prevent over-utilization through utilization reviews that require proof of medical necessity.
- Chiropractic Physicians are licensed under the same act as medical doctors and doctors of osteopathy. Arbitrary limits to only one category of physician (chiropractic physicians) will create confusion and a barrier to care for patients.
Fee schedule reductions:
- Health care providers have already shouldered a 30% cut to the fee schedule in 2011.
- Any further reductions to the medical fee schedule, including those based on faulty comparisons to Medicare reimbursements, will create even more significant challenges for health care professionals caring for injured workers and we believe will increase costs for employers in Illinois.
