THE ACA HAS COST OUR PROFESSION BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN POTENTIAL INCOME  The ACA was invited by the Joint Commission      to discuss Dr. Fred Becks proposal to make            Chiropractic services mandatory in all                           accredited U.S. hospitals.                               The ACA's failure to meet with the                 Joint Commission and iron out the details                has cost the our profession billions of                                   potential dollars.!!!                                                                                                                                     THE CHIROPRACTIC PROFESSIONS 2009   WHITE PAPER ON NATIONAL HEALTH   CARE IS POORLY THOUGHT OUT AND   POTENTIALLY DEVASTATING TO THE   CHIROPRACTIC PROFESSION          The president of the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association has voiced concern over the White Paper drafted by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), the ICA and other Chiropractic organizations in regards to National Health Care. This paper is wordy and fails to clearly state exactly what we are asking for.  Obviously the writers of this paper failed to properly decide on the purpose of this document before writing it.  Although well written, the paper has no inherent strategy behind it and is therefore doomed to fail.  The paper may actually be effective in eliminating Chiropractic care in its entirety from  future National Health Care coverage. Policy makers are not likely to read the entire report.  Even if they do read the report, it is unclear what the Chiropractic profession is asking for in regards to how we would fit into a national health care plan.  We need to tell the legislators exactly what we are seeking.      On top of the list, at the beginning of this report, we should be diplomatically demanding that all services under a chiropractors scope of practice be reimbursed.  There must be parity between the services that chiropractors and medical doctors are allowed to offer and parity in reimbursement. A patient’s co-payments for chiropractic services must not be any higher than those for primary medical providers.  The co-pay must be substantially less than the allowed amount for the chiropractic adjustment.  Insurers and managed care companies must be required to apply cost containment measures to chiropractic and medical services in an equal manner.      Believe it or not, most people are not familiar with the education and training of a chiropractor.  When making a claim that we can fill the void for primary care physicians, we must educate the politicians as to our scopes of practice.  They do not know that we can order laboratory tests and other diagnostic testing necessary to arrive at an accurate differential diagnosis.  We need to train them that although the “adjustment” for correcting “subluxations” is our claim to fame, we have been educated as doctors to examine, test, and arrive at an accurate medical diagnosis on a patient, as well as a chiropractic diagnosis.       The White paper as written gives the impression, that the chiropractic profession needs to refer patients to medical doctors to arrive at a medical diagnosis.  There is no savings to insurance by utilizing the chiropractic profession, if a medical referral is always required to examine, test, and arrive at a medical diagnosis on a patient.  A copy of the White Paper can be found at under the file sharing section of this website. (CHIROPRACTIC__WHITE_PAPER_-_NATIONAL HEALTH_REFORM.pdf) A copy of strategy by the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association can be found by the file sharing  section of this website. (Chiropractic_ National_Healthcare_Strategy_-_Wisconsin_Chiropractic_Association.doc) MAY - 2009 ORGANIZED MEDICINE ATTEMPTS TO PUT THE LAST NAIL IN OUR COFFIN. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL "INAPPROPRIATE MEDICARE PAYMENTS FOR CHIROPRACTIC SERVICES" ORGANIZED MEDICINES CHEAP SHOT AT TRYING TO KNOCK OUT THE COMPETITION       The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General as issued a report, “Inappropriate Medicare Payments For Chiropractic Services” dated May 2009 (OEI-07-07-00390).        You walk into the hospital to have a baby and you are more than likely to have major surgery that is unnecessary to deliver the baby.  You walk into a pediatrician’s office with your child and more than likely the child will be given an antibiotic that is not necessary.  You experience heart attack like symptoms and have cardiac surgery although the symptoms that brought you to the hospital were actually caused by an inflamed gallbladder that was not ruled out by the cardiac surgeon.  You walk into a pain clinic because you have pain and you leave a drug addict.  All of these scenario’s, plus a ton of additional ones, occur each and every day, thousands upon thousands of times.  Medical specialists are not screening their patients properly and are performing unnecessary and very dangerous procedures.  This is well known, documented by medical researchers and honest medical professionals.      Rarely do you see a neurologist refer a migraine sufferer to a Chiropractor.  One or two adjustments and the migraine sufferer may very likely never experience another such headache in their lifetime.  The financial savings over the lifetime of the patient is astronomical.  The quality of life that the patient has achieved under such care is irreplaceable.  This holds true for the asthma  patient, the idiopathic scoliosis patient, the patient with the infertility problem that may respond to conservative Chiropractic care, the hypertensive patient whole hypertension is spinally related etc.  There are many conditions in which a substantial  percentage of patients will respond to Chiropractic manipulative care with a permanent relief of symptoms.      You go to the neurosurgeon or orthopedic surgeon for back pain and he operates on you, resulting in bills adding up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.  And worse yet, the outcome of the procedure may be quite poor.  The Chiropractor down the street could have provided a good to excellent outcome, without harm to the patient.  But only 5% of the general population goes to a Chiropractor.  The neurosurgeon could have referred the vast majority of his patients to a competent Chiropractor and there would have been no need or desire by the patient to have back surgery.  This happens thousands upon thousands of times each day. The surgeons can make tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars or more on each case, regardless of whether the surgery provided a positive outcome or not.  Many peoples lives are destroyed because of the outcomes of these surgeries.  All of these doctors get paid for tens of thousands of different procedures codes.  Chiropractors have the same training in providing an accurate differential diagnosis (both medical and chiropractic) yet we get paid for only one procedure code (spinal manipulation).  A patient is not covered for imaging, diagnostic testing, therapy, examinations etc. under Medicare.  This is obviously unfair to the Doctor of Chiropractic and his patient.  For that one procedure that Medicare will pay for (they won’t pay for manipulation that is extra-spinal) we get about $30.00, give or take.  It is obvious the entire health care crisis is caused by the Chiropractic profession (sarcasm).  Obviously, organized medicine sees an opportunity to destroy the Chiropractic profession (a competitive health care profession).  They know that we are defenseless since we do not have even one trade association looking out for our interests.  Organized medicine is aware that they can be found guilty in the future of violating the original Wilk Anti-Trust settlement.  But they know that now is the time for them to strike and provide the biggest blow ever to the Chiropractic profession.  They are not looking to leave any survivors.  Organized medicine was not able to contain the nurse practitioners because a strong trade association represented them.  Organized medicine was not able to contain the Osteopathic association because they too had a strong association.  Chiropractors do not have a trade association looking out for our interests.  We are a profession that is stagnant.  A profession under control by a few fringe fanatics.  A profession with no clue as to where our future lies.  Chiropractic, a profession represented by people that lack any vision or insight into the future of the profession.  A profession that has been seeing only 5% of the population for the last 100 years.  A population of patients that is actually in the decline in recent years.  A profession that has let practice builders, and fringe fanatics determine the direction of the profession.  While the nurse practitioners have effectively established an ever expanding, large patient base in relatively a short time, the Chiropractic profession has effectively seen our miniscule patient base decline.  The difference is that the other health care professions have leaders with goals and strategies.  Our profession has national leaders that would better serve the plumbing industry, since they have been quite effective in flushing our profession down the toilet.                                                                Fred Beck, D.C. A copy of the Department Of Health and Human Services paper can be found in the file sharing section of this website. (OIG_Report_5-09-9.pdf)       We Endorse Wisconsin Chiropractic Associations Intellectual Initiative "Reinventing The ACA" !!! http://www.wisconsinchiropractic.com/aca.htm        The U.S. Chiropractic Association and Fred Beck, D.C. applauds the efforts of the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association in regards to their 24-page document, “Reinventing The ACA”.  The Wisconsin Chiropractic Association’s initiative is well thought out and intellectually sound.  Our future survival requires goals and strategic planning.  Survival requires an upgrading of the image that the Chiropractic profession presents to the public. Improving the image of how the public perceives us is not accomplished by magazine advertising.  It comes by upgrading the science of the profession, the proficiency of its members, and the professionalism of members when interacting with the public and other health care professionals.        I honestly do not believe that the ACA leadership would willingly reorganize or follow through on any of the strategies presented by the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association.  We hope that their document achieves changes within the ACA.  Although, personal experience has already taught me that the ACA is not interested in the future survival of the profession.  The ACA has ignored opportunities handed over to them on a silver platter by me.  I believe that the ACA’s leadership has a very low opinion in regards to the competence, qualifications and professionalism of our profession.   Possibly a lower opinion than even the public and other health care provider groups.  The Wisconsin Chiropractic Association document is a call for change.  It demonstrates that members within our profession can get together and professionally agree on a strategy to achieve future greatness for the profession and the long-term survival of Chiropractic.  If the ACA is not up for the task at hand, the profession will need to stick together and and choose a new national association for leadership.  Whether that leadership comes from the U.S. Chiropractic Association, or some other organization, is not important.  What is important is having a national united voice for the profession.  The U.S. Chiropractic Association is prepared to fully support any organization up to the tasks outlined by the Wisconsin Chiropractic Association. The U.S. Chiropractic Association endorses the concepts presented in the Wisconsin document.  Wisconsin Chiropractors should be proud to have an association that truly is looking out for their welfare and the survival of the profession.  The public served by Doctors of Chiropractic in the State of Wisconsin is the beneficiaries of an association that promotes the highest standards of Chiropractic health care.     For more information on Dr. Fred Beck you can go to: WWW.DRFREDBECK.COM   You may e-mail Fred Beck, D.C. at: drfredbeck@comcast.net   You may call Dr. Fred Beck at: (954) 292-8279   You may write Dr. Beck at:                             412 NW 47TH Street                             Deerfield Beach, FL  33064        Thank you for stopping by the website for THE UNITED STATES CHIROPRACTIC ASSOCIATION.   The information at this website is here to inform Chiropractors about policies of our major chiropractic trade associations that may surprise you. We try to offer solutions to problems encountered within the Chiropractic profession.  If you have additional information for this site that includes documentation that can be verified, we would be happy to publish and/or respond to such information at this site.  If you feel as strongly as we do that our profession has become our own worst enemy, try to get our major Chiropractic associations to do the the job they are supposed to do of representing our profession as a professional trade association. If that does not work consider donating time and financial assistance to Dr. Fred Beck and the U.S. Chiropractic Association.  At this point, The U.S. Chiropractic Association is more of a philosophy than a true trade organization.  This organization would need to be developed from scratch.  We would need to obtain more members than the American Chiropractic Association so that we can honestly state that we truly represent the profession of Chiropractic.  Financial backers will be needed soon if we are to get this organization off the ground in 2009, at which time we will begin a membership drive.