President Approves Legislation Mandating
Chiropractic Care For Active-Duty Military

President Bill Clinton recently signed into law historic legislation mandating that chiropractic care be made available to all active-duty personnel in the United States armed forces

American Chiropractic Association (ACA) Chairman Dr. J. Michael Flynn called the signing of the law the biggest chiropractic legislative victory in 26 years. "A whole new health-care system -- one of the largest in the nation -- will now be opened up to the chiropractic profession. For the first time, all active-duty military personnel will be guaranteed access to a permanent chiropractic benefit."

Flynn added. "Most importantly, we have achieved inclusion on a broad-scope basis, and have successfully avoided a very narrow, Medicare-like benefit."

The law, formally known as the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001, requires access to chiropractic services "which includes, at a minimum, care for neuromusculoskeletal conditions typical among military personnel on active duty."

According to ACA officials, passage of the legislation required years of joint lobbying efforts by the ACA and the American Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC). Officials said the legislation was passed despite powerful opposition by some members of the Department of Defense (DoD) and various medical groups.

"This was a difficult and protracted battle," said Dr. James A. Mertz, president of the ACA. "We had to fight a hostile and entrenched bureaucracy every step of the way," he said. "The key to this victory was persistence and hard work. ...We simply refused to give up."

The law requires that full implementation of the benefit be phased in over a five-year period, throughout all three service branches of the military. When completed, all active-duty personnel stationed in the United States and overseas are to have access to the chiropractic benefit. The law further requires the DoD to develop, by March of 2001, a full "implementation plan" to ensure the benefit is adequately provided.

ACA and ACC also fought for a provision now included in the law that requires the DoD to consult with the chiropractic representatives serving on the Chiropractic Health Care Demonstration Project's (CHCDP) Oversight Advisory Committee regarding the development and implementation of the phase-in plan. According to ACA officials, the president's signing of the legislation could result in the commissioning of doctors of chiropractic as officers in the military.

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