Hi Everybody
ITS NOT EASY BEING NATURAL- Sometimes it is hard being a chiropractor. We are truly the minority in the healthcare field, and we are treated that way by insurance companies, the medical profession in general, and sometimes by legislators.
Ever since chiropractic began, the political side of medicine, the pharmaceutical industry and the insurance companies have tried to find ways to discourage people from choosing us for their health care needs. The chiropractic profession even sued the medical profession – and won – in a case that went all the way to the Supreme Court, for spreading lies about chiropractic and literally waging a war against us in an effort to “eliminate” our profession, but most people never heard about that.
WHAT THEY’RE DOING NOW- The newest thing is for insurance companies to “cover” chiropractic, but in such a poor way that you’ll choose a medical doctor or even physical therapy over us because it would be cheaper for you.
For example, your co-pay for a medical doctor visit might be $20. But if you go to a chiropractor, you may have a different deductible before chiropractic will be covered, like a $2500 deductible. So you have to choose between seeing a medical doctor for $20 or a chiropractor where you will have to pay the full amount until the $2500 deductible is met, which in many cases will never happen.
Then, if you ever do meet your deductible so that chiropractic is covered, they then limit the number of visits they will cover to see your chiropractor. Again, they know that by making us more expensive insurance-wise (even though we are technically less expensive in overall costs) that you are more likely to go to a medical doctor.
WHAT YOU CAN DO- There is a new bill coming up in Tennessee called the Co-Pay Bill (SB 726). This bill would make it illegal for insurance companies to show favoritism with co-pays. In essence, it would make chiropractic and medical doctor co-pays equal!
This obviously would benefit you, as you’d have less out-of-pocket expense. You pay for your insurance, it’s only fair you get to use it how you want to use it. It would also benefit us because we would be on an even playing field with medical doctors and physical therapists. Then, everyone can choose their health care provider based on who they really want to see, not based on having to go the cheaper route.
Please call Delores Gresham’s office, our senator, at (615) 741-2368. An aid or intern will answer the phone. Simply say “I am calling to let Senator Gresham know that I want her to support the Co-Pay Bill, number SB 726, that is coming up”. Usually that is all there is to it. The person may ask your name and address to make sure you are actually in Tennessee, and that you don’t keep calling over and over, but usually they don’t even do that.
The bill is to be heard on February 25th, so please don’t delay. As a side note, the senators evidently have said that they know how unfair the co-pay system is to chiropractors, but since none of the people that they represent have called their offices to complain they haven’t done anything about it. Please take a few moments to call. If you do not, you cannot complain about the high co-pays you have with chiropractic. Even if you don’t have insurance, please call…someday you might.
Hope this helps,
Dr Matt and Dr Robin
mattandrobin@yahoo.com (email)
This week’s bit of Useless Information: For those who have trouble sleeping, researchers say that 1 week of camping, without electronics, resets our body’s biological clock and synchronizes our melatonin hormones with sunrise and sunset.
This email is courtesy of Matthew Barnes, D.C. and Robin Barnes, D.C. Neither this nor any of our emails are intended to be medical advice and should not be taken as such. They are opinion and are for informational purposes only. None of the nutrients discussed here are meant to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease.