Background
The Florida Chiropractic Association (FCA) began in 1931, and was established by Florida’s chiropractic pioneers, who attained state licensure for the profession.
As Florida’s largest professional chiropractic association, representing over 4,000 active members, the FCA enjoys the support of 80% of the practicing Florida-resident DC’s and several hundred out-of-state doctors who either hold Florida licenses or attend FCA conventions for license renewal in their home states.
Volunteer leaders in the profession representing all of the geographic areas of Florida are responsible for the mission, policy and direction of the organization, while a dedicated full-time staff headquartered in Orlando carries out the day-to-day operations. They, in turn, are aided by a variety of consultants who offer their specialized talents in areas ranging from government relations to association marketing. Together, they work to help educate, inform and assist FCA members in delivering only the highest quality of care to the citizens of Florida.
The primary function of the Florida Chiropractic Association is the protection and welfare of its individual members, regardless of philosophy, as well as education of the public concerning the chiropractic profession.
“The FCA wants nothing less than total parity—even the lead role—for chiropractic within the health care community, and complete and easy access to chiropractic for Floridians,” says Debra Brown, CEO. “As the FCA has grown in strength and effectiveness, so chiropractic has been elevated in the state of Florida.”
What this translates to is the achievement of many historic firsts in chiropractic, through FCA legislative victories in areas such as Medicaid funding for chiropractic, chiropractic insurance equality and the granting of $750,000 in state dollars to establish a Research Center in Chiropractic and Biomechanics at Florida State University, to name a few.
What’s New?
And, recently, in some late-breaking news, it looks like they’ve done it again! According to a FLASH report prepared by Paul Lambert, FCA General Counsel, and Jack Hebert, FCA Director of Government Relations, “The FCA and its coalition friends were victorious in completely reversing [some of] the onerous provisions that the insurance industry had placed on [Florida Personal Injury Protection (PIP) legislation]. Although the bill is not perfect, it represents a compromise greatly in our favor as providers.
“The Florida Senate gave its preliminary approval to SB 1202, a series of new proposals targeting fraud in PIP automobile insurance. Originally this bill was a hated ‘wish list’ of denying and delaying tactics desired by the insurance industry, disguised as anti-fraud measures. Now, a series of amendments have significantly changed the character of the originally hated bill. The amendments, supported by a coalition including the FCA, the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, the Florida Medical Association and other provider groups, dramatically changed the character of the legislation.”
The report went on to say that only the day prior, the Florida House of Representatives passed an amended version of their PIP anti-fraud legislation. And that the House version is substantially different than the Senate version, in that it is far less broad in scope and is limited primarily to anti-fraud provisions. That bill was to have been before the House the following day for final passage, after which it could have moved to the Senate for its consideration. At that time, though, it was uncertain whether the Senate would consider the House proposal.
Anyway, you get the idea…. Those Florida folks really know how to coordinate their efforts on behalf of chiropractic! Congratulations, and keep up the good work!
For more information on current developments in this latest coup by the FCA, or on related activities, be sure to check out
www.FCAChiro.org. TAC