June 2003

see also:

WCA Summit flexes chiropractic muscle in Capitol

'We CAN do it!' says Chief of Staff

Manzullo speaks to Summit ‑‑ and profession

As an influential member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, Rep. Donald Manzullo has helped chiropractic in numerous ways.

In March, 2001, he introduced House Concurrent Resolution 46, which "expresses the understanding of Congress" about chiropractic. It states unequivocally that chiropractic has a unique role in health care and that all government employees should have access to chiropractic care. It also affirms that doctors of chiropractic are the only providers educated and trained to perform chiropractic adjustments to correct vertebral subluxations, and as such, chiropractic adjustments should be provided only by a licensed doctor of chiropractic.

Perhaps most important of all, the resolution specifies that "Chiropractic care includes diagnosis, correction, and management of either vertebral subluxations or neuromusculoskeletal conditions performed by a licensed doctor of chiropractic, and should not include the use of drugs or surgery."

In committee hearings, Manzullo criticized regulatory procedures at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), working closely with chiropractic leaders to expose discriminatory and harassing policies.

He was awarded the World Chiropractic Alliance's 2001 "Outstanding Service Award," and has been a part of each of the WCA's International Summits. The following is the prepared text of the speech he delivered during the 2003 event.

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Thank you, Terry and Jim, for the opportunity to spend a few minutes with you today.

I would also like to recognize the other members of the chiropractic coalition who have joined the WCA on the Hill today. As many of you may already know, I am a big believer in and supporter of chiropractic. My faith in the chiropractic discipline is renewed every Tuesday after I have had my vertebrae realigned by the House chiropractor. My faith in the future of chiropractic is renewed every Spring when the WCA comes to DC to fight for the vision of chiropractic that I also share.

During my tenure in Congress, the following comment I am about to make has been reaffirmed in my mind time and time and time again: the "professionals" in DC do not understand real life.

As Chairman of the Small Business Committee, I have had the privilege to bring before my committee a number of these "professionals" ‑ you know who I am talking about, right? ‑ the bureaucrats with no background in the industry they regulate and who possess no real life understanding of the industry they regulate and who hold the same job for 25 years and wreak havoc on an industry for 25 years.

I have brought these people before my committee and placed them at the table next to real life people.

Usually, we find that significant pieces of the puzzle were forgotten, ignored, or unintentionally omitted at the time of the making of a law or rule ‑ and then we wonder why there is an incomplete picture‑we wonder why there are "unintended consequences."

I appreciate you coming to D.C. because you help make my job easier.

You see, as I have made the rounds advocating good policy for chiropractic, I have found that many of my colleagues and especially the "professionals" do not have an understanding of what chiropractic is and what makes it unique from the medical discipline.

The people in DC who make the laws and rules that affect your daily lives need to know you and need to understand you.

Your individual lawmakers need to know your names and recognize your faces so that when a bill comes before them with the word "chiropractic" in it, they immediately instruct their staff to get you on the phone to see how it will affect you. Some Members may even call you themselves.

One such bill that many of them will see very soon, is a bill we have been drafting with Dr. Rondberg, Dr. Kent, Jim Albertine, and the other members of the chiropractic coalition.

This is the same motley crew that helped bring about H. Con. Res. 46, which laid the tracks for the extension of chiropractic to federal employees.

Because of your efforts in the last Congress, federal employees finally have access to chiropractic benefits ‑‑ 20 annual visits for $20 a visit. Not a bad start, huh?

While we were successful in getting that benefit for federal employees, one of our other objectives of H.Con.Res. 46 has yet to be realized ‑‑ reshaping the definition the federal government uses to define chiropractic.

So the battle continues. We will be introducing legislation soon that will not only reshape the definition of chiropractic in federal policy ... it will blow the lid off the definition of chiropractic in federal policy.

We are talking about a revolution. We will make it clear once and for all that chiropractic is equal, but unique.

We will finally have a definition of chiropractic that actually reflects what chiropractic has always been and what it should always be.

My chief of staff, Adam Magary, will go into more specifics about the legislation, but quite simply here is what we propose to do:

We will severe the tie that binds chiropractors to physicians in the Medicare statute. The term chiropractor will be removed from the definition of physician so that chiropractors are no longer regarded as a subset of medicine in the Medicare statute. We will then create a whole new section under the Medicare statute that defines chiropractor as WE choose to define it and also defines "clinical necessity" and "subluxation."

And of course, we are going to make sure you get paid for your services.

This bill will set chiropractic apart from medicine; it will resolve many of the fights you have endured with HCFA/CMS regarding when care was necessary; and it will make it clear that chiropractors and only chiropractors are educated and trained to do what you do.

This bill will empower chiropractors to be chiropractors.

This bill will enable you to look in the mirror and look at this statute and see yourself reflected there. Finally a statute that looks like you.

We will need your support in the coming days and weeks. We will need you to get each of your individual Members on board. Terry and Jim and others will contact you when we have a bill number and that is when your part begins. We won't be able to beat this monster without your support so please get ready to get in the battle.

Thanks again for inviting me to be here. You have great leadership in Dr. Terry Rondberg, and incredible talent in the ranks. Thank you again!