Comments on: AMA on Warpath to Overturn Provider Non-discrimination Provision of the Affordable Care Act

By: Frank M. Painter, D.C.

Frank M. Painter, D.C. — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 22:14:26 +0000

Dr. Adam

Insurance is fine, as long as you haven’t signed a provider contract with them, agreeing to work for peanuts.

By: Dr Adam Schotzko

Dr Adam Schotzko — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 21:02:42 +0000

I am looking forward to the everybody has crappy insurance days. That way they will all be cash patients and understand that it will cost them money to see a chiropractor. How many times have you had a patient with a $5,000 deductible which hasn’t been met at all say their insurance should “cover everything”.

By: karl

karl — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 16:05:26 +0000

Chiropractic care does cost relatively less, but I will say I believe we are also under paid.

By: Dr. Torras Versace

Dr. Torras Versace — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 06:32:31 +0000

Chiropractors are definitely more than just a massage therapist. It’s a shame that more people do not respect this. Good post.

By: Russell Berg D.C.

Russell Berg D.C. — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 17:05:24 +0000

The statement was not meant to be ubiquitous, but there are a those chiropractors that do not add to what many of us have fought for over the past many years. When I was involved in a pain group at a local hospital I had to lecture to a cross section of medical doctors on what chiropractic was and how it could be applied to their group. In my presentation I reviewed the educational background of chiropractors only to have one of the doctors state he thought we only went to school for a few years and wanted to be called a doctor. If we want to experience parity within the health care system, it is important that we are able to compete at a higher level. I have had patients come to me with serious problems that were missed because the chiropractor did not evaluate them properly. Chiropractic research has come a long way and is very important and I don’t want other chiropractors to cheapen our profession only for a few dollars.

By: Frank M. Painter, D.C.

Frank M. Painter, D.C. — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:36:27 +0000

Hi Russell It appears the Golden Days of print-a-bill-and-get-paid-ism is over, that's true, BUT I'm not sure what you mean by your statement: "have relegated themselves not much higher than massage therapist"??? I agree with Dr. White that routinely offering a low monthly fee for care de-values what we provide. Reduced fees, based on financial hardship, is a time-honored tradition, but CUT-RATES, motivated by financial desperation, or the misguided belief that everyone-needs-constant, never-ending-care is very unprofessional.

By: Russell Berg D.C.

Russell Berg D.C. — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 23:51:19 +0000

Unfortunately, we are in times where many chiropractors are just hanging on and have relegated themselves not much higher than massage therapist.

By: Dr. Andrew White

Dr. Andrew White — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 20:03:09 +0000

I have heard the old timers talk about the greatness of the 80′s. I graduated in ’95 and just missed all the glory. I feel pretty good about the way things are going. However, I do get upset at some DC’s who are trying to sell their own insurance policies with “I’ll treat you as many times as you want for $100/mo.”

By: karl

karl — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 18:21:16 +0000

The AMA is another example of a “too big to fail”. They do have power and money. Maybe not like in times gone by but they are still somewhat relatively powerful. They will try to monopolize their presense like many powerful big organizations/corporations have. Actually they don’t want or like competition. Just my opinion. They don’t want chiropractors pointing out to some patients that have been on HTN meds for ten years and haven’t tried(trial period) to reduce/get off meds. Lifestyle management(medicine) could be dominated by chiropractors and they don’t want to give up this newer market/approach to health care.

By: Russell Berg D.C.

Russell Berg D.C. — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 02:54:41 +0000

My best days were the 80′s as was for many chiropractors. I don’t know if we will ever see those days again, but it would be nice to see change for the better.

By: Frank M. Painter, D.C.

Frank M. Painter, D.C. — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:02:52 +0000

Hi Russell Yes, there are a few sleazy Insurance Companies out there, who want to dodge paying what they promised to, figuring that you will take the easy-out by beating up on the patient to collect from them. To those Insurers, it's just a game, BUT filing a complaint with your State Insurance Commission usually clears out their subluxated thinking...hehehe You are so right about looking at Outcomes of chiropractic, but there are many Insurers who already see the light. I called for verification on a policy and the woman told me:

For medical care, deductible = 500, co-insurance 70%

I said, yeah fine, but I am a Chiropractor. Then she said..."Oh, you're a chiropractor!" (all breathless, like I was a Rock Star!)

for chiropractic deductible = 250, co-insurance 80%

so this company preferentially prices things to ENCOURAGE patients to seek chiropractic care FIRST (to the extent that they can). ASTOUNDING!!! This is a strong indication that (some) Insurers have been following the literature (see our Cost-Effectiveness of Chiropractic Page) and want to capture the savings associated with safe and effective chiropractic care.

Dylan was right (belatedly), because "The times, they are a changing!"

By: Russell Berg D.C.

Russell Berg D.C. — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 23:27:59 +0000

Believe it or not I had a patient that I treated for a disc lesion and the insurance company refused to pay. They said that if he had received back surgery they would have covered the expense. The cost of my fees were insignificant to that of what spinal surgery would have been. After complaining to the insurance commissioner the bill was paid. When you see the ads on TV for the side effects of the different drugs the people are subjected to, it is amazing that a person would be willing to take a chance of suffering some of the catastrophic effects including death. I still think that if fees were paid on outcome assessments that chiropractic would be at the top.