September 2007

ANJC fights for retraction of changes to PIP law

Representatives for the Association of New Jersey Chiropractors (ANJC) say they will continue to fight to retract changes to New Jersey’s Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Regulations and Physician’s Fee Schedule that are not in the best interest of ANJC members.

New Jersey’s Department of Banking and Insurance (DOBI) submitted its amended changes to the state’s PIP Regulations and Physician’s Fee Schedule after two years of meetings and discussions between medical and chiropractic communities and state officials.

“We are not satisfied with ultra-conservative revisions of fees for specific treatments that are often the cornerstones of the chiropractor’s practice. The ANJC, as part of the Alliance for Quality Care, Inc., will continue to fight these changes so that our members and all chiropractors throughout New Jersey receive compensation commensurate with the highly specialized work they do,” said Sigmund Miller, DC, ANJC’s executive director.

Specifics of the amendment will be published Oct. 1 in the New Jersey Register. Amendments considered unacceptable to New Jersey chiropractors include:

• Neuromuscular reeducation and therapeutic activities now fall within the $99 daily cap;
• Decompression treatment must now be reported as mechanical traction pursuant to CPT 97012; and
• Low-level laser therapy must now be reported as infrared therapy pursuant to CPT 97026 instead of an unspecified physical therapy code.

In a press release, ANJC said if DOBI does not reconsider the amendments, the alliance will file a lawsuit to keep the regulations from being implemented until a trial decides if DOBI breached its statutory authority in amending the regulations as presented.

Source: Association of New Jersey Chiropractors, www.anjc.info

Industry News from:
Chiropractic News from: