June 2003

see also:

WCA Summit flexes chiropractic muscle in Capitol

Manzullo speaks to Summit ‑‑ and profession

'We CAN do it!' says Chief of Staff

After hearing from Rep. Donald Manzullo, WCA Summit attendees were treated to an address by his Chief of Staff, Adam Magary, one of the most savvy and chiropractic friendly politicos on the Hill. His tireless dedication to chiropractic has been one of the key factors in the success of the WCA legislative efforts. In his address, he explained how the new bill being developed with the help of the WCA can ‑ and will ‑ solve many of the problems facing chiropractic today.

-----

I would also like to thank you for coming to D.C. this Spring. The importance of your presence is two‑fold.

The travel industries out here have been suffering since 9/11, the anthrax, and the war with Iraq. People are afraid to travel to DC and other associations have relocated their conferences. The cab drivers are so desperate at times that when you try to hail one, you almost get run over by 7 cabs doing U‑turns in the middle of the street.

But a more important reason is that your presence here matters.

When people choose not to come to D.C. and meet with their lawmakers, they are giving up one of their Constitutional guarantees. The First Amendment guarantees the right of the people to "petition the Government for a redress of grievances." And as we've seen over the last few years, the chiropractic community has a number of grievances with the Federal Government.

Call them subluxations, if you will.

You know, when Jim Albertine introduced my boss and me to Terry Rondberg and the WCA a few years ago, my boss asked me to run the traps on Terry. I soon discovered that there were people out there, especially in the chiropractic community, who do not like Terry Rondberg.

He says things that people don't like; he says things that make people uncomfortable; he isn't a status quo player; and some even labeled him a "troublemaker."

Well, some people here in D.C. say the same thing about my boss, so I knew we would get along just great with Terry and the WCA.

You see, in D.C., if you don't have people opposing you, you probably aren't doing the right thing. After all, if you are not a threat to the devil, he has no interest in opposing you, right?

About 120 years before Dr. Palmer made the connection between wellness and the alignment of the vertebra, another group of guys decided that they didn't like the way they were being treated.

They didn't like the way their government was defining them. They decided that they had had enough. They decided that they wanted to reclaim something they felt was being taken away from them. So what did they do?

They marched down to the Boston harbor and dumped a bunch of boxes of tea into the water. They made a statement that said "get ready things are about to change!" So today, we, too, are declaring that we have had enough.

We, too, are reclaiming something we see being taken away from us. We, too, are dumping something into the harbor to serve notice that things are going to change.

So what is contained in the boxes we are dumping into the harbor?

How about the box that has wreaked havoc on the chiropractic community for 30 years...the box that has the word "PHYSICIAN" printed in bold letters across the front.

We are dumping the Medicare statutory definition of chiropractor into the harbor of legislation that doesn't reflect reality. Just as the founding fathers must have had a rush, knowing that they were at the cusp of the new era, we today stand on the cusp of a revolution.

Chiropractors reclaiming their freedom. Isn't that exciting? Do I need to ask for a round of applause?

As my boss mentioned, the legislation we have been drafting with Dr. Rondberg, Dr. Kent, Jim Albertine, Ron Hendrickson, and the other members of their Coalition, takes the chiropractic policy debate in a whole new direction.

There is enough BS in D.C. ‑ we like to just get to the heart of the matter. Chiropractors are not medical doctors and do not want to be medical doctors. Anyone here wish they were delivering babies instead of doing what you are doing? Anyone here wish they were operating on ligaments instead of doing what you are doing? Anyone here wish they had their name on a little pad that says take this mind altering drug?

My experience has been that chiropractors are some of the happiest and most satisfied people out there. They love life and they love being able to help other people love life. They love their work and they should be allowed to continue loving their work. Rather than trying to mess around with the current statutory structure that has caused problems for chiropractors for decades, we decided that it needed to go.

One of my colleagues, Barry Pineles, came up with the strategy of creating a new section in the statute just for Medicare. At the time, he didn't fully recognize the significance of what he proposed. To him, it would just be cleaner to start with something new.

But Dr. Rondberg, Dr. Kent, Jim, and I recognized immediately that a new section would finally settle decades worth of problems.

Kind of like the adjustment Dr. Rondberg talks about in one of his books where the 55‑year‑old woman overcomes the diabetes she has had for 50 years after have her vertebra realigned. After her next injection, she passed out because her body began producing insulin on its own again.

I believe Dr. Rondberg actually passed out when he heard about the prospects of what we are about to do. Dr. Kent provided us with strategic language that finally reflects what chiropractic is and where it should go in the future.

Let me touch upon a few other positive consequences of this bill.

First, chiropractors will have their own statutory definition separate from the term physician. You understand already why that is significant.

Second, by defining what chiropractic is, we define who can do it.

Third, by creating our own section under Medicare, we empower you without taking away from someone else. The medical specialties can still do what they do, they just can't do what you do.

Fourth, you will no longer have to haggle with and be second‑guessed by CMS or regional dictators ... I mean carriers.

You will no longer be bound to terms like "maintenance care" or "not medically necessary." Which is usually determined by a dollar sign or a dart board.

Finally, you will still get paid according to the physician fee schedule‑which is the pot of money that is split among Medicare providers.

Does this sound too good to be true? Only we can decide if it is...your destiny, your future is in your hands. If you want, what we've laid before you, we are going to need your help. Will we have opposition? Probably. Someone is bound to come along and say, it can't be done. To which we reply ‑‑ it can! Someone is bound to come along and say, but it has always been done this particular way. To which we reply, yeah but it can be better.

Someone is bound to come along and say, but won't it cost us status? To which we reply, it costs us nothing if what we gain is freedom.

And if someone comes along and says, it wasn't our idea, well, you know what to tell them.

Thank you again for letting us be here today.