Defense Health Care: DOD has Established a Chiropractic Benefit for Active Duty Personnel

The Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2001 (NDAA 2001) directed the Department of Defense (DOD) to develop and implement a plan to make a chiropractic benefit available to all active duty personnel in the U.S. armed forces. The practice of chiropractic focuses on the relationship between structure (primarily, the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health. In August 2001, DOD submitted to Congress an implementation plan that described how it planned to develop a chiropractic benefit within the military health system. The plan addressed patient eligibility, access to care, the location of chiropractic clinics, projected costs, staffing, and the marketing and monitoring of the benefit. The NDAA 2001 directed DOD to develop the implementation plan in consultation with the Oversight Advisory Committee (OAC), which was established by the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1995 (NDAA 1995). The OAC was directed by the NDAA 1995 to oversee a 3-year DOD chiropractic demonstration project at no fewer than 10 military treatment facilities (MTF). The NDAA 1995 directed that the OAC include the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs; the Surgeons General of the Army, the Air Force, and the Navy; and at least four representatives of the chiropractic profession; and also directed that we serve as a member of the OAC. As a member of the OAC, we attended meetings of the OAC and provided technical input and advice. The NDAA 2001 also mandated that we monitor the development and implementation of DOD's chiropractic health care plan. As agreed with the committees of jurisdiction, we reviewed the implementation of DOD's chiropractic benefit.