Two pieces of legislation aimed at expanding access to chiropractic services have been introduced in the House of Representatives and are making their way through Congress.
"Many regions of our nation, particularly the rural parts of America, simply do not have sufficient numbers of qualified health care professionals to meet the needs of the local population," said ACA President Rick McMichael, DC. "This legislation would provide vital health care to underserved patients across the country, and it would also help newly graduated chiropractic physicians establish practices and repay their student loans." The ACA and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges were among the chiropractic advocates helping get H.R. 531 and H.R. 664, the Chiropractic Membership in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps Act of 2011, introduced in Congress.
H.R. 664, introduced on Feb. 11, 2011 by Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas), "amends the Public Health Service Act to authorize appointment of Doctors of Chiropractic to regular and reserve corps of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and for other purposes, and mandates the appointment of at least six DCs to the corps no later than 90 days after enactment of the act.
"Both of these pieces of legislation are critical to the integration of chiropractic care in every federal health care program," said Frank J. Nicchi, DC, ACC president.
As of press time, H.R. 664 and H.R. 531 have been referred to the House Subcommittee on Health. Read the full text of both pieces of legislation and track their progress online at http://thomas.loc.gov.
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