1989-90 — A reorganization of the board of directors of the National Chiropractic Mutual Insurance Company (NCMIC) was begun by vote of the company’s policyholders in 1989.

Founded with $30,000 in start-up capital by the leadership of the National Chiropractic Association in 1945, the specialty mutual insurer had offered malpractice coverage to chiropractors since 1946. A nationwide crisis in malpractice insurance, involving skyrocketing settlements and proliferation in the number of claims filed against all kinds of doctors (DC, DO, MD, etc.) occurred in the mid-1980s and had threatened NCMIC’s viability with state insurance regulators.

Drs. Charles Cline	Arnold Cianciulli	Louis Sportelli

Dissatisfied with the company’s style of operation, several policyholders mounted a “write-in” ballot campaign to elect new blood to NCMIC’s board of directors. Leading this campaign were chiropractors Charles Cline, Arnold Cianciulli and Louis Sportelli, all of whom would subsequently serve as presidents of the company.

The NCMIC weathered the storm, and in the intervening years has grown its surplus and reserves by orders of magnitude. Today the company has an “A” rating, is the strongest financial entity within the chiropractic profession and insures more than 50 percent of all chiropractors in the United States. The NCMIC has become the greatest contributor to research funding within the profession.