May 2006

House passes bill for military chiropractic

The U.S. House of Representatives approved pro-chiropractic language that would require the Department of Defense to make chiropractic care available to all members of the armed services through U.S. military treatment facilities worldwide. The language, backed by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC), was passed on May 11 as part of HR 5122, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2007.

The bill would require the Secretary of Defense to develop a plan for providing chiropractic healthcare services to all members of the uniformed services. In addition, HR 5122 would require the Pentagon to study the cost and feasibility of expanding the chiropractic benefit to military dependents, retirees, and reservists.

HR 5122 also stipulates that the Secretary of Defense shall submit a report, including the implementation plan and the completed study on expanding the chiropractic benefit to the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the House Committee on Armed Services by March 31, 2007.

The Senate has not yet acted on their version of the FY 2007 Defense Authorization Bill.

To view HR 5122, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/ . Within the text of HR 5122, section 712 deals specifically with the chiropractic benefit.

Source: American Chiropractic Association, www.acatoday.com

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