[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 97 (Monday, July 24, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Page S7471]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CHIROPRACTIC BENEFIT FOR MEMBERS OF THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I rise today to express my support for a 
provision included in the House-passed Department of Defense (DOD) 
Authorization bill which provides a permanent chiropractic benefit to 
all active military personnel. Iowans have a long history of support 
for the chiropractic profession. In fact, the nation's oldest 
institution of higher chiropractic learning--Palmer College--is located 
in Davenport, Iowa.
  I am pleased that both the House and Senate have included provisions 
in their respective DOD authorization bills which expand access to 
chiropractic services for members of the military. These provisions 
follow on the heels of a multi-year pilot program enacted in the 
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995. The pilot 
program demonstrated that military personnel who received chiropractic 
care had higher levels of satisfaction with the care they received as 
compared to personnel who only received traditional medical care. 
Furthermore, the pilot project demonstrated that chiropractic care 
would reduce hospitalization, return injured patients to work more 
quickly, and would result in a net savings to the Department of Defense 
in excess of $25 million annually.
  The Defense Authorization Act passed by the House of Representatives 
begins the process of fully integrating chiropractic care into the 
military health care system on a direct access basis. The Senate-passed 
bill, however, limits chiropractic care through a medical gatekeeper. 
Direct access to chiropractic care would expedite the delivery of 
chiropractic care to those patients most in need of services and would 
free up existing health care providers to concentrate their time and 
efforts in other areas requiring attention. Therefore, I join the 
chiropractic profession in asking the conferees of the DOD 
Authorization legislation to accept the House-passed provision and 
provide direct access to chiropractic services to all active military 
personnel.

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