April 2006

ACA recaps NCLC

American Chiropractic Association’s annual National Chiropractic Legislative Conference (NCLC) brought DCs from around the country together in Washington, D.C., for four days to lobby Congress.

From March 25-28, more than 500 DCs, chiropractic students, and chiropractic supporters converged on the nation’s capital to hear speeches from government leaders, and to receive advocacy education and training.

In a departure from previous legislative conferences, this year’s NCLC agenda focused primarily on one issue — a concentrated effort to defeat S.1955, a small business health plan bill. Also significant, for the first time in history, all 18 chiropractic colleges were represented by members of their respective Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA) chapters.

Several members of Congress and other speakers reminded conference attendees of the progress made on other issues important to the profession.

• Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee since 1993, commented on the chiropractic profession’s commitment to members of the nation’s armed forces and veterans.

• Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., was adamant about freedom of choice in the military healthcare system.

• Rear Admiral Adam Robinson Jr., commander, National Naval Medical Center (NNMC), spoke firsthand about the injuries he has seen in returning veterans and the multidisciplinary approach that is needed to treat them. In addition, he commended staff chiropractors at the NNMC for their ability to provide outstanding patient satisfaction and commented that many health care providers try to emulate the chiropractic approach to patient care.

• Although he was unable to attend in person, Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a videotaped message that expressed his concern with reported high rates of documentation errors among chiropractors.

In addition, a resolution was passed with regard to the Medicare Chiropractic Demonstration Project. The resolution aims to not only recognize participants who have dedicated significant time and staff resources to the demonstration project, but also to encourage even more doctors to become involved.

Source: American Chiropractic Association, www.acatoday.org

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