One in three American seniors lives with chronic pain, and Medicare, the program built to cover their care, still treats chiropractic like it is 1972. That year, chiropractors were recognized as physicians under Medicare, but coverage was limited to exactly one service: manual manipulation of the spine, commonly known as an adjustment.
More than fifty years later, that is still the only chiropractic service Medicare pays for. Not the exam. Not the evaluation. Not the things your licensing board requires before care ever begins. Seniors deserve the freedom to choose their doctor and to receive the full range of care their state already trusts chiropractors to deliver.
What H.R. 539 Does
The Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act, H.R. 539 in the House and S. 106 in the Senate, fixes that. When it passes, Medicare’s chiropractic coverage will reflect what doctors of chiropractic are already licensed by their states to do, similar to the broader recognition already seen in the VA, Department of Defense, federal employee health plans, and private insurance.
Nothing in the bill changes any state’s scope of practice. Medicare is a payer, not a scope authority. This legislation simply brings chiropractors into parity with other physician-level Medicare providers.
Why Now
The support is already there. As of today, H.R. 539 has 169 cosponsors in the House, nearly evenly split between the parties, and its Senate companion bill, S. 106, has 15 cosponsors. Both bills are sitting in committee.
What this legislation needs now is a committee vote, and that is exactly what constituent pressure produces. The action form below sends your message to your Representative and both of your Senators at once.
What We Need You to Do
1. Fill out the action form. It takes about two minutes: https://www.votervoice.net/ChiroCongress/Campaigns/138663/Respond
2. Use your HOME address, not your clinic address. The form routes your message based on the congressional district where you are a registered constituent. Your home address is what puts your letter in front of the right Representative and Senators.
3. Ask your patients to do the same. Share the link at your front desk, in your patient newsletter, and on your social media. Your patients are Medicare beneficiaries, caregivers, and voters, and their voices carry real weight with a congressional office. The same form works for them.
Every message sent adds to the case for a committee vote. If you have five minutes today, use two of them here and give the other three to your patients.
Questions? Contact us at kac@thekac.org.
