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Wednesday 8a-6p
Thursday 8a-6p
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US Medicare Blocks Physical
Therapists from Performing Chiropractic Adjustments
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued
a letter dated January 15, 2002 which was a reversal
from their previous position dating back to December 14,
1994 that had allowed Physical Therapists (PTs) to
perform chiropractic services under the US Medicare law.
With the new ruling, PT's are not allowed to do
chiropractic procedures under Medicare.
In actuality there was never an abundance of PTs
performing chiropractic adjustments. But the ruling as
it previously was in the past allowed certain HMOs and
insurance companies to exclude Doctors of Chiropractic
from their provider lists because they claimed they were
offering required chiropractic services when needed
through their Physical Therapists. With this new letter
and ruling, all Medicare insurance companies and HMO's
will not be able to use PT's as an excuse not to have
chiropractors on their provider lists.
The chiropractic profession has been fighting this
problem for years with both legislation and an ongoing
lawsuit. This ruling does not completely fix the
problems but it is viewed by most as a good first step
toward protecting the public and making chiropractic
care available to Medicare beneficiaries without undue
harassment.
The letter itself stated: "Section 1861(r) of the Social
Security Act provides the definition of a physician for
Medicare coverages purposes, which includes a
chiropractor for treatment of manual manipulation of the
spine to correct a subluxation. (As a standard Medicare
Part B benefit, manual manipulation of the spine to
correct subluxations must be made available to enrollees
in all Medicare + Choice plans) The statute specifically
references manual manipulation of the spine to correct a
subluxation as a physician service. Thus, Medicare +
Choice organizations must use physicians, which include
chiropractors, to perform this service. They may not use
non-physician physical therapists for manual
manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation."
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