SPECIAL BULLETIN FROM THE AMERICAN CHIROPRACTIC ASSOCIATION FOR DOCTORS OF CHIROPRACTIC AND THEIR PATIENTS ... CALL CONGRESS NOW - TO ENSURE THAT THE MEN AND WOMEN OF OUR ARMED FORCES ARE PROVIDED WITH THE VERY BEST HEALTH CARE POSSIBLE ... INCLUDING CHIROPRACTIC CARE...!!! BACKGROUND: All reasonable Americans would agree that the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces deserve to be provided with the very best health care possible. However, the Department of Defense (DoD) health care system currently denies these men and women access to chiropractic care, despite the high levels of spine and neuro-musculoskeletal related injuries that occur in the physically stressful military environment. Congress is currently considering legislation (The Defense Authorization Act, S. 2550 and H.R. 4205) that would correct this deficiency and mandate the inclusion of chiropractic care in the military health care system. There are two competing plans to do this. THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES PLAN IS CLEARLY SUPERIOR. The Senate plan would only provide chiropractic benefits to a portion of the men and women in the Armed Forces and would do so only on the referral of a "primary care manager." THE HOUSE PLAN WOULD PROVIDE CHIROPRACTIC CARE TO ALL UNIFORMED MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND WOULD DO SO ON A "DIRECT ACCESS" BASIS. ACTION NEEDED: To ensure that Congress adopts the House plan, you must call your U.S. Senator and request that he/she work to include the House legislative provision as a "manager's amendment" to S.2550 the Senate version of the Defense Authorization Act when that legislation is voted on by the U.S. Senate. The vote on this legislation is scheduled to occur on or about May 22. Specifically, your Senators should be encouraged to contact the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator John Warner (R- Virginia) and Ranking Democrat Senator on the Committee, Senator Carl Levin (D- Michigan) and urge that they incorporate the House chiropractic provision into the Senate Bill (S.2550) as a "manager's amendment." You may contact your Member of the U.S. Senate by calling the Capitol Hill Operator at (202) 224-3121. All doctors of chiropractic and their patients should respond to this bulletin - but it is particularly important to do so, if one of your U.S.Senators serves on the Senate Armed Forces Committee. A LIST OF THE MEMBERS OF THIS IMPORTANT COMMITTEE IS ATTACHED. [Note: South Carolina doctors do not need to contact Senator Thurmond, as he is already supportive of our efforts.] TALKING POINTS: Brief talking points in support of the inclusion of chiropractic care are as follows: * A recent Johns Hopkins University study revealed that musculoskeletal injuries comprise the largest single category of injuries in the Armed Forces and are a major cause of medical discharges from the military. Doctors of Chiropractic are acknowledged experts in treating musculoskeletal conditions. * A recently completed DoD pilot program demonstrated that military personnel who received chiropractic care had significantly higher levels of satisfaction with the care they received as compared to personnel who only received traditional medical care. * The same study revealed that chiropractic patients had significantly superior outcomes compared to those patients who were only provided with traditional medical care. * The pilot program also demonstrated that chiropractic care would reduce hospitalizations, return injured patients to work quicker, would result in a savings of over 199,000 workdays, and would improve readiness. * A review of the pilot program's data by Muse & Associates, a Washington-based research and consulting firm, projects that including chiropractic care in the military would result in a net savings to the Department of Defense in excess of $25 million per year. * Direct access to chiropractic care would expedite the delivery of chiropractic care to those patients most in need of the service and would serve to improve the efficiency of the military health delivery system. Direct access would help free up existing health care providers to concentrate their time and efforts in other areas where they could maximize their effectiveness. * All members of the uniformed Armed Forces deserve chiropractic care - not just a portion of them - and that is another key reason why the House provision should replace the current Senate chiropractic provision in the Defense Authorization Bill (S.2550). If you have any questions regarding this bulletin, please contact the ACA Department of Government Relations at (703) 276-8800. Thank you for your immediate response to this bulletin. REMEMBER - THIS IS A TIME SENSITIVE MATTER. THE U.S. SENATE IS SCHEDULED TO VOTE ON THIS MATTER ON OR ABOUT MAY 22. Members of Senate Armed Services Committee Name Phone Fax Wayne Allard (R-CO) (202) 224-5941 (202) 224-6471 Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) (202) 224-5521 (202) 224-2852 Robert Byrd (D-WV) (202) 224-3954 (202) 228-0002 Max Cleland (D-GA) (202) 224-3521 (202) 224-0072 Tim Hutchinson (R-AR) (202) 224-2353 (202) 228-3973 James Inhofe (R-OK) (202) 224- 4721 (202) 228-0380 Edward Kennedy (D-MA) (202) 224-4543 (202) 224-2417 Mary Landrieu (D-LA) (202) 224-5824 (202) 224-9735 Carl Levin (D-MI) (202) 224-6221 (202) 224-1388 Joe Lieberman (D-CT) (202) 224-4041 (202) 224-9750 John McCain (R-AZ) (202) 224-2235 (202) 228-2862 John Reed (D-RI) (202) 224-4642 (202)224-4680 Charles Robb (D-VA) (202) 224-4024 (202) 224-8689 Pat Roberts (R-KS) (202) 224-4774 (202) 224-3541 Richard Santorum (R-PA) (202) 224-6324 (202) 228-0604 Jeff Sessions (R-AL) (202) 224-4124 (202) 224-3149 Robert Smith (R-NH) (202) 224-2841 (202) 224-1353 Olympia Snowe (R-ME) (202) 224-5344 (202) 224-1946 John Warner (R-VA) (202) 224-2023 (202) 224-6295