Call to Action – Urgent Request

Help CalChiro Restore the Chiropractic Medi-Cal Optional Benefit in 2023-24 State Budget! Send a Letter to the Governor!

Send by Friday, June 9th!

Calchiro offers you the opportunity to leverage the association to save time in building relationships with legislators. It gives you access you might not otherwise have which equates to influence. This has been particularly important as we make efforts to establish chiropractors as a category of provider in the Medicare and Medi-Cal space. As an association and a profession, we have the opportunity to dictate the narrative on chiropractic. Let’s do everything we can to capitalize on that opportunity

Dr. Phil Dieter

Board Director - Govt Affairs

Tell the Governor to restore the Chiropractic Medi-Cal Optional Benefit in the final 2023-24 State Budget by This Friday, June 9!

The California Chiropractic Association (CalChiro) has focused its legislative “ask” on restoration of the Chiropractic Medi-Cal Optional Benefit in the final negotiated State Budget and removing the 2 visit a month Medi-Cal cap.

Currently, services provided by doctors of chiropractic are the only “optional” benefit in the Medi-Cal system that has not been refunded since 2010. Chiropractic services were eliminated as an optional benefit under Medi-Cal in 2009; other services (podiatry, dentistry and others) have been either fully and partially restored since that time, however, chiropractic services remain eliminated.

Chiropractic has been shown through several studies as a proven safe, long-term solution to pain and comes at a low cost with cost savings and increased access to health providers. For just over $1 million annually, millions of Medi-Cal beneficiaries will have access to Doctors of Chiropractic (DCs) that have proven to be effective in providing nonpharmacological treatments to pain, reducing the need for prescription drugs such as opioids, and reducing the need for costly surgical interventions.

The Legislature is expected to send their version of the State Budget to Governor Gavin Newsom by June 12.

In addition, this “ask” coincides with the American Chiropractic Association’s legislation, the Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act (H.R. 1610 and S. 799 https://www.acatoday.org/advocacy/medicare). These legislative proposals will allow doctors of chiropractic to provide the array of services authorized by their respective state scope of practice. Initially, one might consider that the federal legislation is limited to Medicare beneficiaries only, however, as funding of Medi-Cal is coupled with Medicare, it is necessary to ensure that states expand the role of doctors of chiropractic in these government sponsored programs. It should also be noted that commercial health plans in many instances mirror state and/or federal benefit packages, and for that reason the Medi-Cal ask is consistent to ensure inclusion of doctors of chiropractic as a category of provider.

Instructions to Submit a Comment to the Governor 

To share your support with the Governor please follow these instructions:

  1.  Visit http://www.gov.ca.gov
  2. On the top right of the home page is an icon that looks like a phone and letter labeled contact. Click that and it will take you to the contact page.
  3. Select from the dropdown menu “Medi-Cal Issues/Concerns” as the Topic for your comment.
  4. Select the option “Leave a Comment” under the question “What is the purpose of your message?” Select Next.
  5. On the next page, for “Position” select “Pro”.
  6. Below will be a section to write your message, copy and paste the text below into this space and then click “Send Message”.
Draft Message for DCs – Copy & Paste

 

Governor Newsom,

My name is X, a doctor of chiropractic practicing in the X area. I write to you today to respectfully urge you to restore the Medi-Cal chiropractic optional benefit for adult beneficiaries and remove the 2 visit a month Medi-Cal cap. I strongly support the restoration of the Chiropractic Medi-Cal Optional Benefit, which has been championed by Senator Nancy Skinner and included in the Senate’s version of 2023-24 State Budget.

The expansion of Medi-Cal made possible by the Affordable Care Act has been successful in providing many of the most vulnerable populations in California health care coverage. Medi-Cal is a vital coverage component in our healthcare system as it assists our most low-income and vulnerable populations gain access to health care providers and services. As part of ensuring that more Californians have access to adequate health services, the California Legislature has worked towards restoring Medi-Cal Optional Benefits that were cut over a decade ago. The state has restored services such as optical services, podiatry, speech therapy, and incontinence creams and washes. However, chiropractic benefits have yet to be restored for the adult population of Medi-Cal beneficiaries.

Restoring the chiropractic Medi-Cal option comes at a low cost and yields cost savings and increased access to health providers, an important pain management alternative to combat the opioid epidemic. The 2018 state estimate for restoring chiropractic benefits on an annual basis would cost $1,707,000 million – chiropractic is the second to least costly benefit when compared to the other optional benefits that have been restored. For this modest investment, millions of Medi-Cal beneficiaries will have access to Doctors of Chiropractic (DCs) that have proven to be effective in providing nonpharmacological treatments to pain, reducing the need for prescription drugs such as opioids, and reducing the need for costly surgical interventions.

Chiropractic is a proven safe, long-term, solution to pain and restoring the benefits will ensure that Medi-Cal beneficiaries have access to another health provider. DCs are widely accessible in communities across the state, both in rural and urban locations. You can find our doctors working in various settings – as independent providers, in hospitals, in rural clinics, and in multidisciplinary health teams. DCs are working alongside other health providers, referring to one another, but are faced with Medi-Cal limitations other providers are not subjected to. Even though DCs are widely available, adult Medi-Cal patients and providers are unable to access one another at a time when chiropractic care is urgently needed. Additionally, populations that do retain a chiropractic benefit often are forced to settle for inadequate treatment options due to the Medi-Cal two-visit per month limitation that arbitrarily interrupts sound clinical judgment. These limitations lead Medi-Cal beneficiaries, who are low-income residents, to pay for chiropractic services out of pocket, forgo treatment options, or simply turn towards pain management prescriptions without addressing the root cause of their pain.

I appreciate your consideration of this request and your approval of this restoration in the final 2023-24 State Budget.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXX

 

Open the word document HERE to copy & paste. 

If you are a Patient and wish to support the CalChiro State Budget Ask, below are the same instructions to submit a comment to the Governor’s office including the draft message to submit.
Draft Message for Patients – Copy & Paste

We encourage you to personalize your message if possible.

Governor Newsom,

My name is X, a chiropractic patient from the X area. I write today to respectfully urge you to restore the Medi-Cal chiropractic optional benefit for adult beneficiaries. I strongly support the restoration of the Chiropractic Medi-Cal Optional Benefit, which has been championed by Senator Nancy Skinner and included in the Senate’s version of 2023-24 State Budget.

I am under regular care from a doctor of chiropractic and can personally speak about the benefits from having access to a chiropractor. ADD A SENTENCE ON HOW RECEIVING THIS CARE HAS BENEFITED YOU. 

With the expansion of Medi-Cal eligibility in California, it would be a disservice to Medi-Cal adult recipients from not having covered access to a doctor of chiropractic. There are numerous studies and evidence that have found the use of chiropractic has avoided costly surgical intervention, is an effective non-pharmacological treatment for pain and can help prevent the use of over-reliance on opioids that mask pain rather than addressing the root cause. 

For these reasons, I urge you to restore the Medi-Cal optional benefit for adult beneficiaries and remove the 2 visit a month cap before the legislative session ends. All Californians should have the opportunity to reap the benefits from receiving chiropractic care.

I appreciate your consideration of this request and your approval of this restoration in the final 2023-24 State Budget.

Sincerely,

 XXXXXXX

HELP