American Chiropractic Association
DC’s Across the Country Continue to Reap Benefits of ACA Legal Action
The aggressive legal posture of the ACA in protecting the rights of doctors of chiropractic and their patients continues to pay dividends for the chiropractic profession. The United States Office of Personnel Management has determined that doctors of chiropractic will be reimbursed for providing physical therapy services under the national Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s (BCBSA) Federal Employee Program (FEP), if such services lie within the doctor’s state scope of licensure. The BCBSA FEP is the largest privately underwritten health insurance contract in the world, enrolling 4 million federal government employees, dependents and retirees.
“ACA is delighted to announce another tangible benefit of our ongoing legal action,” said Daryl D. Wills, DC, President of the ACA. “This policy change not only has obvious financial implications for the chiropractic profession but it also demonstrates the ever-growing respect and recognition our profession enjoys.”
ACA is sponsoring Spinal Health Month this October!
The purpose of this annual observance is to bring about public awareness of chiropractic care and its relationship with the neuromusculoskeletal system and to promote the many health benefits of chiropractic care.
ACA members can create a Spinal Health Month campaign in their own communities by using the tool kit on ACA’s Web site (www.acatoday.com). The toolkit contains an official Spinal Health Month proclamation, a sample press release to send to your local newspaper, a sample radio ad spot and a sample Spinal Health Month newspaper ad slick.
International Chiropractors Association
Dr. Dan Murphy is ICA’s New Vice President
World-renowned educator and spinal trauma expert Dr. Daniel J. Murphy has been elected to fill the position of ICA Vice President by the Board of Directors of the International Chiropractors Association. This senior leadership position was left vacant by the recent loss of Dr. Fred H. Barge, and was filled during a special meeting of the ICA Board in mid-August.
Dr. Murphy is a 1978 graduate of Western States Chiropractic College and, since 1982, has been on the faculty of Life Chiropractic College West. He also maintains a busy practice in Auburn, California. One of chiropractic’s most articulate and effective spokesmen, Dr. Murphy appears on platforms around the world speaking before chiropractic as well as other professional groups. Dr. Murphy pioneered the postgraduate education process for chiropractic management of spinal trauma. He has given over 800 12-hour seminars on this vitally important clinical subject and is universally acknowledged as the chiropractic profession’s expert on this topic. Dr. Murphy has also written extensively and served as an expert witness in defense of chiropractors on countless occasions.
Dr. Murphy has been actively involved in ICA’s programs for nearly twenty years and has been repeatedly recognized for his service on behalf of the ICA, including “Chiropractic Educator of the Year” in 1987 and 1991, and “Researcher of the Year” in 1995. He has also been recognized through numerous “Clinical Science Faculty Awards” from Life Chiropractic College West and as the 1997 “Carl S. Cleveland Jr. Educator of the Year” by the International Chiropractors Association of California (ICAC).
World Chiropractic Alliance
ICA, FSCO to Join WCA for Summit Legislative Day
In 2004, for the first time in history, three major chiropractic organizations–the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA), International Chiropractors Association (ICA), and Federation of Straight Chiropractors and Organizations (FSCO)–will gather together for a demonstration of chiropractic unity and influence.
The historic assembly will take place on Thursday, April 29, 2004, as the kick-off event of the World Chiropractic Alliance International Summit 2004. Members from all three organizations will take part in a one-hour political “pep rally” before meeting with Senators and Representatives either singly or in state-wide contingents.
WCA Lobbies for Federal Research Grants
The WCA has retained Michael Fulton, Executive Vice President of Golin/Harris International, to help secure federal funding for a multi-year chiropractic research study that will further validate the need to expand the role of chiropractic in the US healthcare system. The WCA campaign included giving testimony at the US Senate Appropriations Committee hearings on “Health Care Access and Cost Containment Strategies.”
Following the hearing, Committee staff members were given draft language that was later incorporated into the final report to the Fiscal Year 2004 spending bill funding the US Department of Health and Human Services. Fulton said the testimony and report language are part of a comprehensive campaign building a case for $1.4 million in federal funding for the research study.
For more information on the World Chiropractic Alliance, visit www.worldchiropracticalliance.org.