Congress Directs $2 Million to Chiropractic Student Loan Program 



Arlington, Va. (Dec. 17, 2004) - President Bush signed into law on 
Dec. 8 legislation that includes a directive from Congress to provide 
$2 million in funding to expand and extend a pilot program allowing 
doctors of chiropractic to participate in the National Health Service 
Corps (NHSC) student loan repayment program.  The chiropractic 
provision, contained in the conference report to accompany HR 4818, 
was sponsored by Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Arlen Specter 
(R-Pa.), and backed by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) 
and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC). 



"This is yet another important milestone in the ACA's battle to 
ensure that chiropractic care is fully included in all federal health 
care programs," said ACA President Donald Krippendorf, DC. "Doctors 
of chiropractic belong in the National Health Service Corps because 
we have a unique and important role to play in providing millions of 
Americans in underserved areas with the care they need.  Thanks to 
Tom Harkin and Arlen Specter -- two great leaders who understand 
the value of chiropractic to the nation's health care system -- there 
will be new opportunities for DCs and better health care for 
patients."



"This a great victory, particularly for the chiropractic college 
students who are ready, willing and able to serve in the NHSC," said 
Jean Moss, DC, president of ACC and the Canadian Memorial 
Chiropractic College.  "This is an historic time on the campuses of 
our chiropractic colleges - with not only the new funding for the 
chiropractic program in the National Health Service Corps, but also 
the increasing role of doctors of chiropractic in the veterans and 
military health care systems and the potential to end decades of 
anti-chiropractic discrimination in Medicare through the Medicare 
Chiropractic Demonstration Project."  



In 2002, Congress approved ACC- and ACA-backed legislation 
establishing a special pilot program to assess the impact of making 
chiropractic care more available in communities served by the 
National Health Service Corps.  Under this program in 2003, eight 
DCs who had entered into employment contracts with eligible 
community health centers around the United States and submitted 
applications to the government were selected to serve as the first 
chiropractors in the NHSC student loan repayment program.  These 
DCs began receiving tax-exempt student loan reimbursements up to 
$25,000 per year to continue during a two- or three-year service 
commitment.  



Following selection of this initial group of DCs, from a pool of 
about 90 applicants, NHSC officials unexpectedly -- and counter to 
their orders from Capitol Hill -- announced that the program was 
closed and would be evaluated without additional groups of DCs 
being added.  The ACA and ACC vigorously protested this decision and 
worked together not just to overturn it, but also to support new 
legislation to expand and extend chiropractic participation in the 
NHSC and the student loan repayment program.  The ACA/ACC 
advocacy effort - launched officially at the National Chiropractic 
Legislative Conference in March 2004 - successfully secured support 
from Senators Harkin and Specter, Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.) and 
other pro-chiropractic leaders in Congress and culminated with final 
approval by Congress of the conference report on HR 4818 on Dec. 6, 
2004. 



Earlier this year, after hearing from ACA members, the Senate 
Appropriations Committee voted on Sept. 15 to register concern 
about the handling of the NHSC chiropractic pilot and approved a 
funding directive to expand and extend the program.  The 
Appropriations panel's report to accompany the FY 2005 
appropriations measure for the Department of Health and Human 
Services states:



      "...The Committee is concerned that funding provided for this 
demonstration in fiscal year 2003 resulted in only eight 
chiropractic demonstrations nationwide. The purpose of the 
demonstration program was to collect data on comprehensive 
patient outcomes associated with community health centers that 
provided chiropractic services . the Committee believes that eight 
chiropractors is not a statistically significant figure and 
conclusions cannot be safely drawn from this part of the 
demonstration. Therefore, the Committee expects HRSA to use these 
funds to conduct another demonstration on a cohort of exclusively 
chiropractors and report to the committee on the findings." 



The NHSC, administered by an agency within the U.S. Department of 
Health and Human Services, assists medically underserved 
communities to recruit and retain primary care clinicians, including 
dental and mental and behavioral health professionals, to serve in 
their community. More than 23,000 health professionals have served 
with NHSC since 1972. Current field strength totals more than 2,700 
clinicians/health care professionals whose careers are influencing 
the outcomes of underserved populations and communities. Many 
clinicians have remained in service after fulfilling their initial 
NHSC commitments.