(From the ACA "Week in Review" of July 24, 2014) Earlier today, the Senate Appropriations Committee filed a report to accompany the Fiscal Year 2015 funding bill for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which also includes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Included in the report was American Chiropractic Association-supported language directing the agencies to address flawed guidance issued in 2013 on implementation of Section 2706, the vital provider non-discrimination provision, of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA or ACA).

(From ACA "Week in Review" of 04/03/2014) On April 1, President Obama signed into law H.R. 4302, the "Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014," which averted a 24 percent reduction in Medicare physician payments. The temporary "doc fix" to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) allows for continuation of the 0.5 percent update, previously implemented on Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 31, 2014, and a zero percent update from Jan. 1, 2015 through March 31, 2015. Also included in the law is a provision that delays conversion from ICD-9 to ICD-10 diagnostic and procedure coding until at least Oct. 1, 2015. ACA is awaiting further clarification on how this delay will affect providers and insurance companies going forward.

After a long series of reminders, it's D-Day for your Florida license renewal. Renew by midnight on Monday, March 31, to avoid substantial penalties. The cost for renewal for a DC is $379 until midnight on March 31st. When April 1 dawns, the DC renewal fee increases to $729. Please renew today!

BACKGROUND: In order to maximize the profession’s advocacy activities at the National Chiropractic Legislative Conference (NCLC 2014), please participate in the advance online grassroots campaign in an effort to “soften the beachhead,” when the ground forces arrive in Washington for Capitol Hill visits on February 27th.

In order to maximize the profession’s advocacy activities at the National Chiropractic Legislative Conference (NCLC 2014), the ACA is coordinating an advance online grassroots campaign in an effort to “soften the beachhead,” when the ground forces arrive in Washington for Capitol Hill visits on February 27th. This is the third in a series of three Legislative Alert Bulletins that requires your immediate grassroots response.  Please read carefully and take the specific action requested below. 

A Washington Post story on neck manipulation , originally published on January 6 of this year, has made its way into the Florida media.  The Gainesville Sun published a feature entitled "Stroke of Bad Luck?" in its February 11 edition.   FCA President Michael Chance, D.C., who practices in Gainesville, immediately responded with a Letter to the Editor submission.  

(From ACA "Week in Review" of December 12, 2013)  A Department of Education (DOE) panel today recommended a full, three-year federal recognition for the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), according to the American Chiropractic Association (ACA). The recommendation follows a hearing in Washington, D.C. and is expected to be approved in early 2014.

ACA's longtime advocacy efforts result in positive step forward for the chiropractic profession in Medicare.

(Arlington, Va.) The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) has learned that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will increase the value of Chiropractic Manipulative Treatment (CMT) CPT® codes up to 10 percent in the 2014 Physician Fee Schedule beginning Jan. 1. The change comes after ACA provided CMS-appointed coding committees with key information about the physician-level work involved in the procedures.

The increase in CMT code values is an important step forward for the profession, resulting from ACA's long campaign to expand and increase the value of chiropractic services in Medicare. It was in late 2012 that ACA representatives presented data from a random profession-wide survey on the physician work inherent in CMT codes 98940, 98941 and 98942 to the American Medical Association's RVS Update Committee (RUC) Health Care Professionals Advisory Committee Review Board (HCPAC). The RUC-HCPAC subsequently recommended an increase in the Relative Value Units (RVUs) for each of the CMT codes in 2014, which CMS accepted.

The new values, outlined below, will be used to calculate the allowable payment for each CPT® code that doctors of chiropractic bill.

8am - 9:40am & 10:20am - 11am | Acacia I

In this session the core principals of the immune system, chronic immune conditions, HIV, and their relevance to your practice will reviewed.  This dynamic presentation elucidates current epidemiology, prevention and safety measures. In addition, cutting-edge research, including herbal and nutritional support that is directly applicable for immune system support for your daily patients, as well as to chronic immune challenged patients will be presented.  A complementary approach to orthodox care and adjunctive nutritional and herbal support will be presented.

Learning Objectives
• Review the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and its effects on CD4+ cell function
• Review of the warning signs of HIV infection
• Antiretroviral therapy goals  and managing side effects with nutritional/herbal support
• Dietary, lifestyle, and herbal support for patients with chronic immune concerns, including HIV/AIDS patients
• Nutritional foundations that every patient can benefit from for optimal immune system protection

Speaker provided by Standard Process, Inc.