Activate Your Practice Podcast
The Activate Your Practice Podcast is hosted by the Chairman & Founder of Activator Methods, Dr. Arlan Fuhr. This podcast will cover a variety of subjects. Dr. Fuhr will interview guests from different backgrounds and professions, as well as talk about his 50+ years in chiropractic care.
Activate Your Practice Podcast
Dr. Quinn James Champions Medicare Reform for Chiropractors
Questions for Dr. James email drquinnjames@att.net
Discover the driving force behind a transformative legislative effort as we welcome Dr. Quinn James, a politically active chiropractor from St. Louis, Missouri, who's championing the modernization of Medicare for chiropractic care. As the legislative chairman for the American Chiropractic Association, Dr. James provides an insider's perspective on the Medicare Chiropractic Modernization Act (HR 1610 and Senate Bill 799), which aims to break down outdated barriers from a 1972 statute. With bipartisan support, this initiative promises to expand patient access and streamline care by reducing redundant provider visits. Dr. James shares his journey and passion for reform, making this a must-listen for anyone invested in healthcare progress.
Our conversation doesn't stop at policy details. We explore the tactical steps necessary to garner Congressional support, spotlighting the pivotal role of Jason Smith, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. With 179 House co-sponsors and 14 Senate supporters, the momentum is undeniable. Hear Dr. James's appreciation for his colleagues' collaboration and commitment to this urgent cause, as well as a personal story that brings the legislation's importance into sharp relief. Tune in to understand how you can contribute to this crucial movement, ensuring enhanced chiropractic care under Medicare nationwide.
Hello, I'm Dr Arlen Foer, the chairman and founder of Activator Methods International. Welcome to our podcast called Activate your Practice. Today we've got a very different person that we're interviewing, dr Quinn James, and he's from St Louis, missouri and very active in politics. And he's from St Louis, missouri and very active in politics and he's been working on upgrading the Medicare bill for chiropractic. Dr James, welcome to the program.
Speaker 1:Thanks a lot. I appreciate you inviting me to be on the program today.
Speaker 2:Well, I thought we could get the word out to everybody and see how much they could help you, because you've been doing this by yourself and not getting any recognition, and so that was my goal today is to get you some help. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm a practicing physician. I have a solo practice and just outside of St Louis, Missouri and St Peter's. I've been in business for about 25 years and over those 25 years I've held different positions with the Missouri Chiropractic Physicians Association, including the legislative chairman, and then I moved over to the American Chiropractic Association where I became a delegate for Missouri, representing the 2,300 chiropractors in Missouri, and then eventually I was appointed as the legislative chairman for the American Chiropractic Association.
Speaker 2:So you've been around politics for a few years.
Speaker 1:Yes, I have, so we've made some real good strides in Missouri and we want to see that happen nationwide with our federal plans.
Speaker 2:Now this bill that you're working on it's updating Medicare for chiropractic and I'm surprised. When I talk to chiropractors they have no idea that this is even happening. And I know there's a bill number. Can you tell me what that number is?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so the name of the bill is the Medicare Chiropractic Modernization Act and it's HR 1610 in the US House of Representatives and it's Senate Bill 799 in the US Senate.
Speaker 2:Well, tell me a little bit about what, for example, how many co-sponsors? I know you were up at 170.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we've been able to pick up several co-sponsors. For our bill, we're up to 179 co-sponsors and the great thing about this bill is we have 93 Republicans and we have 86 Democrats signed on on our House bill and on the Senate bill, we have 14 co-sponsors, including six Republicans and eight Democrats. Senate bill we have 14 co-sponsors, including six Republicans and eight Democrats. So this piece of legislation is just very bipartisan, supported by many in Congress. Up to about 42% of the members of Congress have signed off.
Speaker 2:How did we get to the situation where we need legislation? Why can't CMS do this through the regulatory process?
Speaker 1:Well, in 1972, we passed a law in Congress to allow us to kind of get our foot in the door and allowed us to treat subluxations of the spine. And because that was put into statute, the only way to overturn the statute that was passed in 1972 is to pass a new statute.
Speaker 2:I know we're late in the congressional session, but can doctors still contact their representatives and ask them to support that legislation?
Speaker 1:Yeah. So the best way to do it is just to reach out to your local congressional office or call their DC office and ask to set up a meeting with your representative or one of their representatives. And this legislation is far-reaching. As we kind of mentioned before, when they passed this in 1972, they kind of got their foot in the door and it allowed chiropractors to do manipulation to the spine only. But what this bill would do is it would expand that out with that modernization, so it would allow you to practice up to your state scope, and any service that Medicare covers that you're licensed to provide within your state you would be able to get reimbursed for.
Speaker 1:And we're not just talking about a reimbursement issue, we're actually talking about a patient access issue. So patients don't get access to our services if the services aren't paid for. So if a Medicare patient were to come in and want to get an adjustment to their spine, under current statute we have to charge them for an exam, we have to refer them out for x-rays, refer them out for specialized testing, refer them out for physical therapy. Well, those are all things that are within our scope and instead of making a Medicare patient have to go to multiple providers for the covered services that we're already licensed to provide. Why not just have Medicare? Pay us for all those services and eliminate that roadblock.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, I'm a little bit familiar with Medicare Number one. I almost got arrested because we were using Activator and they sent the government officials to my office in Wilmer, minnesota, and they said I don't think we've got enough to arrest you, but we'll be back. And of course I was a bit upset, to say the least. So I called my Senator, rudy Boschowitz At the time I was very close to him and he said I want you to fly to Washington tomorrow. He said we will get this thing settled and I never will forget walking in Rudy's office because you know, usually it's staff, people and things like that. But he was there and the head of health and human services Margaret Heckler was her name and a bunch of law enforcement people.
Speaker 2:I thought, my gosh, I'll probably get arrested here. And he said what's the real issue here? And one of his aides said well, you have to adjust by hand. And he said you know, when you paint a picture you use a brush, but you're still doing it by hand. And he held up an activator and he said now I consider this the brush. And Margaret Heckerler looked at Rudy Boschwitz and said that's what we're here for. Drop the case and I want a letter sent out and we have a letter on our website, by the way everybody could look at. In 1986, activator was approved for Medicare. So that's my dealings with Medicare, so I understand a bit about what you're going through. To get everything in line, how would a doctor go about contacting their elected officials?
Speaker 1:So there's a couple of ways to go on about doing that. You can obviously go online and you can look up who your elected official is and find out where their local offices are. So they typically have offices that are within their district and they also have a Washington DC office and then what you would do is just reach out to them through that method, just give them a phone call and try to get a meeting set up with them and ask them either to meet in person in district or you can also do a Zoom meeting with them.
Speaker 2:Would it be helpful for patients to call their congressman?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's always helpful if you can make their phones ring in Washington DC, and the American Chiropractic Association actually has a call to action page where patients can click on the links and put in their address and it'll automatically generate emails to the members of Congress in their district.
Speaker 1:So just go to the ACA website, yeah go to the ACA website under the advocacy tab and you can either click that you're a patient or you're a provider and, based on if you're a patient or provider, it'll generate a different style of letter that you can send off to your member of Congress letting them know that you support this legislation to increase access for Medicare patients to the services provided by chiropractic physicians.
Speaker 2:When the legislation passes. You see how positive I am. When the legislative passes, you're. What does the legislation then go through the regulatory process?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so with any piece of legislation, once you pass it and it gets signed by the president or signed by the governor of a state, it always has to go through the regulatory process. Will it determine all the services that will be reimbursed under that? So, like with different states, there's different regulations, so our scope of practice in Missouri may be a little bit different than the scope of practice in Arizona, so we'll have to figure out what those differences are. And it's no different than any other profession. Nurse practitioners have different rights in different states, so they have to figure out which services are going to be covered underneath Medicare, and they'll have to do the same thing with chiropractic to figure out which services they're going to cover based on your state scope of practice.
Speaker 2:How long do you think the process will take once it's passed?
Speaker 1:Well, I don't have any experience on the federal level, but on the state level, a couple of years ago we passed a Medicaid full inclusion bill for chiropractic physicians in Missouri, where it covers exams and x-rays and allows us to be able to order blood work and MRIs and be able to perform therapies in our office, and I can tell you that process took us about a year and a half to get that in place through the regulation. So I would expect the same thing on the federal level. It's going to take a year or two to get those regulations drawn up and it'll go into effect within a couple of years of passing the legislation.
Speaker 2:Well, I know you're busy and I just want to thank you for taking time to get this out to everybody, and I hope this helps you because it's been a tough job and I want you to be recognized for the work you did, and the ACA, you know, helped with all of this also. So thank you, dr James, for coming on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I appreciate that, and this is an extra piece of information. This bill has been assigned to the Ways and Means Committee of the US Congress and Chairman Smith, jason Smith. He is actually from the southeastern corner of Missouri and is a great friend of chiropractic and the chairman of the committee where this has been assigned. We also have 30 of the 43 members from his committee signed on as co-sponsors for this legislation. So we're really building a lot of momentum with this bill and we really want to get this across the finish line as soon as possible.
Speaker 1:Well, David, I appreciate you inviting me on today.
Speaker 2:Well, you're welcome. David Swikert is from Arizona and he's a friend and he's been, you know, a co-sponsor for some time now and he just got re-elected, so I think you're going to be in good shape to get it handled. That reelected, so I think you're going to be in good shape to get it handled. That sounds great. I appreciate you having me on today. Thank you very much, dr James.
