Reducing the costs of medical costs under Medicare while improving services has been Medicare’s goal for a long time. Unfortunately, some of the most effective services for drug-free non-surgical care have been poorly insured from the early days of Medicare. There is growing evidence that the full inclusion of chiropractic services in Medicare would reduce drug use by seniors while improving their quality of life by using chiropractic care to help them feel and function better. Since the 1970’s, the only chiropractic service that Medicare covered was manipulation of the spine. Over 50 years later, the profession has markedly grown in both respect and knowledge. Many high-quality studies have shown chiropractic to be the most effective profession in managing lower back pain and many other musculoskeletal conditions. Over the past 20 years, chiropractic has been integrated into the VA (Veterans Administration) healthcare system and has shown how they reduce costs, and drug use while improving outcomes. The Opioid crisis was caused by doctors and drug companies applying protocols that used misunderstood drugs to reduce pain. The problem is that its usage caused great harm to both patients and their doctors. Many of these patients sought care from doctors who were fully covered by Medicare, although less effective for their pain. In 2003, a chiropractic pilot program was set up in three areas of the country to show how chiropractic worked and how cost-effective it was. Two of the three regions reduced costs except for Chicago which had higher costs for care performed by chiropractors. I am now in Medicare as of last month and so far it has been wonderful, both from a cost perspective and also with the variety of doctors who accept the plan. While Medicare is not perfect, most doctors do participate however, seniors who visit a chiropractor must pay for their exams, and x-rays. MRIs regularly covered under most insurance plans in every state must be ordered by an MD even though chiropractors regularly order these tests when needed. Chiropractic is part of the solution for reducing drug usage and growing evidence shows that patients seeing chiropractors were far more likely to A few years ago, the Chiropractic Medicare Modernization Act was introduced into Congress and has many co-sponsors. Last year, a Senate version of the bill was introduced by Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut that does the same and currently has 14 co-sponsors and growing as lawmakers push to increase access to non-pharmacological treatments. Both of the bills have bipartisan support in both houses. Read more about the bill in Newsweek using this link. How can you help us get this important bill passed by Congress and the Senate? The American Chiropractic Association has made the process easy to as your representatives in Congress and our state senators to co-sponsor these important bills. Do it today, it can be done in under 5 minutes. Ask your friends to do this as well. If you are currently covered by Medicare, this is vitally important. If you have parents covered, it is also important. Click the link below to visit the American Chiropractic Associations page that offers links to ask your representatives to sponsor. If you know these people personally, please ask them as well to cosponsor House: H.R. 1610 and Senate: S. 799 Click here to visit the Amedican Chiropractic Assn’s site for the Modernization Act.