President Clinton Signs Into Law Chiropractic Benefit For Military

President Clinton recently signed into law historic legislation mandating that chiropractic care be made available to all active duty personnel in the United States armed forces.
The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 requires access to chiropractic services "which includes, at a minimum, care for neuromusculoskeletal conditions typical among military personnel on active duty."
Passage of the legislation required years of effort and occurred powerful opposition by the Department of Defense (DoD) and various medical groups made passage of this legislation difficult.
Full implementation of the benefit will be phased in over a five-year period, throughout all service branches of the military. When completed, all active duty personnel stationed in the United States and overseas are to have access to the chiropractic benefit. By March of 2001, the DoD must develop a full "implementation plan" to ensure the benefit is adequately provided. The president's signing of the legislation could result in the commissioning of doctors of chiropractic as officers in the military.