Congress Passes Legislation Mandating
Chiropractic Care For Active Military Members

The U.S. Congress recently passed historic legislation, mandating that chiropractic care be made available to all active-duty personnel in the United States armed forces. The legislation, formally known as the Fiscal Year 2001 Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4205), was added to the legislation following nearly a decade of joint lobbying efforts by the American Chiropractic Association and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges.

Passage of the legislation was hard-fought, with powerful opposition from the Department of Defense (DoD) and various medical associations, ACA officials said. ACA Chairman Dr. J. Michael Flynn said the passage of the legislation is a huge victory for chiropractic. "A whole new health-care system- one of the largest in the nation- will now be opened up to the chiropractic profession," Flynn said.

The legislation requires access to chiropractic services "which includes, at a minimum, care for neuromusculoskeletal conditions typical among military personnel on active duty." H.R. 4205 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.

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