January 18, 2014 — The International Chiropractors Association (ICA) recently presented their insights and perspectives on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) at the 2014 Parker Seminars Las Vegas. The ICA was represented by President Michael S. Mclean, DC, and Gerard Clum, DC, president emeritus for Life Chiropractic College West, presidential liaison for external affairs for Life University.
McLean led with his insights on this national policy initiative by noting that the PPACA is projected to bring 30 million additional Americans of all ages into the insurance system and that the nation’s aging population will bring, at its peak, an additional 40 million new individuals into the Medicare program.
This massive new pool of covered individuals will be in a position to draw on a limited provider pool and thus, doctors of chiropractic will see a massive increase in patient demand in the next decade. The highly clinical and cost-effective nature of chiropractic care and the growing consumer demand for natural, conservative, drugless approaches to health and healing will also support this projected growth in demand for chiropractic services.
Clum also spoke at length on the importance of keeping the profession’s focus on its proven realm of professional services rather than seeking to transition chiropractic into a more medical model in an attempt to secure primary care “physician” privileges that are clearly in the medical realm. Clum asserted that doctors of chiropractic are empowered under the law to participate in the ACO and PCMH environments and have established a powerful role in the intake, assessment and care of patients of all ages.
The Parker panel on health reform was also privileged to have the 18th U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, MD, as a participant. Benjamin was appointed by President Obama in 2009 and served in that capacity with great distinction until July of 2013. In her role as Surgeon General, Benjamin played a major part in developing many of the rules and policies that will govern the implementation of the PPACA. She is a longtime chiropractic patient and displayed a detailed understanding and sympathy for chiropractic as a choice in healthcare.
“The implementation of the national health reform law is a vast and complex undertaking and the best interests of chiropractors and chiropractic patients must be carefully guarded throughout this entire process. First, we must all understand what that process entails and then where our points of vulnerability might lie,” said McLean. “The Parker forum provided the profession a wonderful and most needed opportunity to broaden and strengthen our understanding of these issues, making it easier to build a profession-wide response.”