Chiropractic Profession Honored to Serve Veterans This Memorial Day

ACA Vows to Continue Its Fight on Behalf of Nation’s Heroes
Arlington, Va. — This Memorial Day, the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) honors those who have served our nation by reaffirming its commitment to increase access for veterans and active-duty military members to the services provided by doctors of chiropractic.
Men and women of the Armed Forces make huge sacrifices in service to our country, including sacrifices to their health. A February 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) report cites "diseases of Musculoskeletal System/Connective System" such as back pain as the No. 1 ailment of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans accessing VA treatment. Doctors of chiropractic (DCs) are experts in the treatment of neuromusculoskeletal problems and their natural approach can in some cases eliminate or reduce the need for drugs and surgery.
Earlier this month, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services recognized the benefits chiropractic services by including strong, pro-chiropractic language in its committee report for the fiscal year 2013 National Defense Authorization Act. The language asserts that services provided by DCs for our nation's men and women in uniform is of "high quality" and has become a "key" benefit within the military health care system.
For more than a decade, ACA has advocated for inclusion of chiropractic physicians and increased patient access to chiropractic services in the veterans and military health care systems. ACA initiatives resulted in a federal law in 2000, which opened access to chiropractic in the military and another, in 2001, requiring veterans to have access to chiropractic care. Today there are chiropractic physicians working at 42 VA medical centers and at 60 Department of Defense (DoD) facilities around the world.  Underscoring the value of chiropractic care to veterans, ACA’s Immediate Past President Dr. Rick McMichael was recently named "Veteran Advocate of the Year" by the Vietnam Veterans of America, Buckeye State Council. Dr. McMichael was honored in recognition of his tireless personal dedication to enhancing the health and wellness of America’s veterans. He was first appointed to the DoD Oversight Advisory Committee for the Chiropractic Health Care Demonstration Program in 1994 and first appointed to the Chiropractic Advisory Committee for the VA in 2001. In 2005, he was appointed to serve on the Chiropractic Health Care Benefit Advisory Committee, a DoD advisory panel charged with evaluating the integration of DCs into the military health system and with making recommendations for the future. In 2009, he testified before the U.S. Senate Veterans Affairs Committee in support of Sen. Patty Murray's bill to expand the services of DCs to all veterans through inclusion of DCs in all major VA health care facilities.  "ACA is committed to working with all branches of the military and VA systems to ensure that the services provided by doctors of chiropractic are available anywhere in the world to the men and women who serve our great country,'" says ACA President Dr. Keith Overland. "It is the profession’s honor to be a part of the health care system that treats veterans. America’s heroes do not have to suffer in silence with the common neuromusculoskeletal ailments associated with their service."
The American Chiropractic Association (ACA), based in Arlington, Va., is the largest professional association in the United States representing doctors of chiropractic. ACA promotes the highest standards of patient care and ethics, and supports research that contributes to the health and well-being of millions of chiropractic patients. Visit www.acatoday.org.