• Magazine
    • Past Issues
    • Subscribe
    • Change Mailing Address
    • Surveys
    • Guidelines for Authors
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Editorial Deadlines
  • Practice
    • Business Tips
    • Chiropractic Schools
    • Clinical & Technique
    • eBooks
    • eCourses
    • Infographics
    • Quizzes
    • Wellness & Nutrition
    • Personal Growth
    • Podcast
  • Resource Centers
  • Products & Services
    • Buyer’s Guide
    • Products Directory
    • Submit a Product
    • Vendor Login
  • Datebook
    • Become an Events Poster
    • Post an Event
    • View Events
  • Jobs
    • Jobs
    • Post a Job
  • Advertise
    • Advertising Information
    • Media Kit
    • Contact Us
    • Upload Advertising

Your Online Chiropractic Community

Chiropractic Economics Your Online Chiropractic Community
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • News
  • Webinars
  • Chiropractic Research
  • Students
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19)

ACA efforts result in federal agency’s clarification of PPACA language

Chiropractic Economics June 4, 2015

american-chiropractic-associationNew FAQs replace previous document containing objectionable language inconsistent with the statute and Congressional intent.

June 4, 2015 — At the urging of the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has clarified a section of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) that led some states to improperly limit patient access to doctors of chiropractic and other qualified non-MD/DO healthcare providers.

On May 26, CMS withdrew and replaced an FAQs document on Section 2706(a) of the 2010 PPACA with one containing a more realistic approach to the issue of provider nondiscrimination.

The new FAQs establish a more reasonable standard for Section 2706(a) enforcement and are more in line with ACA’s understanding of the issue.

“This clarification signifies a remarkable achievement for ACA and its healthcare association partners in ensuring that all patients have free and fair access to the providers of their choice,” said ACA President Anthony Hamm, DC, noting that the previous FAQs had served as a “severe impediment to quality patient care and genuine reform in the nation’s healthcare system.”

Proper implementation of the law had been hampered in part by flawed information distributed in 2013 by the HHS Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, which led some states to limit patient access to qualified healthcare providers, including doctors of chiropractic, based solely on the providers’ licenses in direct contradiction to the intent of Congress.

The new FAQs were issued in response to the Dec. 11, 2014 explanatory statement issued by the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, directing CMS to “provide a corrected FAQ or provide an explanation.”

The new FAQs take a position very close to the approach originally advocated by ACA and other provider groups. The agencies now state that they “will not take any enforcement action” with respect to 2706(a) “as long as the plan or issuer is using a good faith, reasonable interpretation of the statutory provision.”affordable care act

“We would suggest that this new language strengthens the point that singling out chiropractic care for special discriminatory treatment is a clear violation of Section 2706(a),” said Hamm. “The new FAQs reflect ACA’s impact on this issue, as we were instrumental in all points that the new document referenced.”

A key dimension to Section 2706(a) is patient access to covered services from licensed doctors of chiropractic (DCs), and other non-MD/DO providers. ACA works on an ongoing basis with states and other stakeholders to ensure the proper enforcement and aggressive implementation of that section of the health reform law aimed at curbing discriminatory abuses against the chiropractic profession and other healthcare disciplines.

The FAQs were prepared jointly by the U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury. Like previously issued FAQs, these answer questions from stakeholders to help people understand the PPACA and benefit from it, as intended.

Source: American Chiropractic Association

Related Posts

  • Anthony Hamm, DC, re-elected co-chair of AMA HCPAC Review BoardAnthony Hamm, DC, re-elected co-chair of AMA HCPAC Review Board
  • ACA presses HHS to aggressively enforce provider non-discrimination lawACA presses HHS to aggressively enforce provider non-discrimination law
  • american-chiropractic-associationACA joins broad provider coalition opposing anti-patient legislation
  • Senate Committee issues ultimatum on provider non-discriminationSenate Committee issues ultimatum on provider non-discrimination
  • New NCLAF 'war chest' supports chiropractic's legal, legislative advocacyNew NCLAF 'war chest' supports chiropractic's legal, legislative advocacy
  • Audits and breaches and fines, oh my!Audits and breaches and fines, oh my!

Filed Under: Chiropractic News, Industry News, News

Current Issue

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube logoYouTube logoYouTube

820 A1A N Highway W18,

Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082

Phone 904.285.6020

Fax 904.395.9118

CONTACT US »

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Copyright © 2021, All Rights Reserved

SUBSCRIBE TO THE MAGAZINE

Get Chiropractic Economics magazine
delivered to your home or office. Just
fill out our form to request your FREE
subscription for 20 issues a year,
including two annual Buyers Guides.

SUBSCRIBE NOW »

Latest Chiropractic News

  • Foot Levelers releases spring 2021 seminars schedule
  • MediHerb® introduces Ashwagandha Forte for patient sleep, stress, immunity support
  • HealthLight expands to include blue light therapy for chiropractors
x