In what has been hailed as a "huge victory for chiropractic," the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill making chiropractic care available through the Veterans Health Administration. The legislation gives veterans access to chiropractors at VA medical centers and clinics for both neuromusculoskeletal conditions and the correction of subluxation complex.

The passage of the hard-fought bill is the culmination of years of effort by major chiropractic organizations, which occasionally disagreed on the exact wording of the provision. The bill was first introduced by the American Chiropractic Association (ACA), which faced opposition from medical groups and some veterans associations that feared the provision would raise health care costs. The ACA successfully coordinated a massive grassroots campaign to counter the opposition and won widespread acceptance of the proposal in Congress.

Although generally supported by other chiropractic organizations, disagreement arose because the original legislation contained no reference to subluxation care. Instead, it provided only for "at minimum, care for neuromusculoskeletal conditions typical of those affecting all age groups within the eligible veterans population..." Many chiropractic leaders feared such restrictive language would be used to exclude chiropractic care for the correction of vertebral subluxation.

To prevent that situation, the World Chiropractic Alliance (WCA) began an effort to change the wording of the bill to specifically include subluxation care. "This one point was non-negotiable," stated WCA President Terry A. Rondberg, D.C. "To us, it could not be considered a chiropractic bill if it didn't include some reference to the subluxation. After all, that's what makes chiropractic unique and essential."

In October 2000, the WCA submitted testimony before the House Committee on Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health, Hearing on Chiropractic Service in the Veterans Administration, explaining that, "By failing to define chiropractic as the analysis and correction of vertebral subluxation, the current wording in (the bill) excludes an entire category of chiropractic. If passed with this wording, thousands of licensed, capable doctors of chiropractic would be virtually barred from providing subluxation-correction services through the VA system."

Although harshly criticized by some factions of the chiropractic profession for refusing to relent on this issue, the WCA continued its aggressive lobbying campaign and eventually enlisted the support of other organizations, including the International Chiropractors Association (ICA). Recently, the ICA spoke out in support of the subluxation language, saying it was necessary in order to "avoid a situation where Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) bureaucrats might be able to obstruct or redefine chiropractic's rightful role in patient care."

WCA lobbyist Jim Albertine said the main thrust of the efforts was to educate legislators about the effect of subluxation on health, and the unique role of chiropractic in the health care system. "They were eager to learn and had no difficulty understanding the basics of chiropractic science and philosophy," he noted.

"The bill is a huge victory for chiropractic," stated Dr. Rondberg. "It will finally make much needed chiropractic care available to our veterans and will bring us one step further to making it part of all federal health care systems."

Rondberg added that the bill was a major success in another way as well. "The passage of this bill shows us clearly what can be accomplished when all chiropractic organizations work cooperatively toward a common goal," he commented. "It could not have passed without the hard work of the ACA and it would not have contained the subluxation language if it were not for the WCA. Only by working together could we achieve what many thought was impossible."