Legislation Targets Needs of Veterans
Two pieces of legislation, very important to veterans and to chiropractors alike, are now making their way through the U.S. House of Representatives. Introduced in March 2007, by the chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), the legislation would not only direct the federal government to expand Chiropractic benefits in the Veterans Administration but would also mandate that veterans have direct access to Chiropractic care at all VA hospitals and clinics.
Advances have been made during recent years in providing benefits to servicemen. In 2000, then President Clinton signed a bill to make Chiropractic services available to all active duty service personnel over a 5 year period. However, statistics show that the amount of Chiropractic services available and being delivered is still far short of what was needed.
Currently, only about one-sixth of the 230 U.S. military treatment facilities worldwide now offer Chiropractic healthcare services. Additionally, less than one-third of the nation’s 154 major VA medical centers have a chiropractor on staff. The VA is the single largest provider of medical services in the U.S.
Now more than ever, Chiropractic is needed in the nation’s VA facilities. A recent Veterans Health Administration, Office of Public Health and Occupational Hazards report cited musculoskeletal injuries as the number one complaint among U.S. veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.
The deficiencies in Chiropractic services in the VA were recently noted at a high level by John Falardeau, Army Medical Center Vice President of Government Relations. Excerpted from a report sent to the House and Senate Armed Services and Veterans Affairs Committee: “At present, Doctors of Chiropractic have been located at only 30 of the more than 150 major VA treatment facilities. As a practical matter, this means that the vast majority of veterans who would benefit from access to Chiropractic care do not have this form of treatment available to them.”
The House Bills to watch with keen interest are the following: H.R.1470, which would “amend the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Programs Enhancement Act of 2001 to require the provision of Chiropractic care and services to veterans at all Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers.” H.R.1471 would amend Title 38 of the United States Code “to permit eligible veterans to receive direct access to Chiropractic care.”
To read these bills in their entirety and track the status of these important pieces of legislation, visit the Library of Congress at www.thomas.gov.