Dr. Tom

Thanks for taking the time to comment. My thoughts on commissioning?…. Your guess is as good as mine. I see it happening later not sooner — if and when it does happen. Unfortunately things like this move very slowly when it comes to the military and government. I have yet to read anything lately that speaks about commissioning. I’ll be sure to post updates if I do.

Dr. Lamar

Thank you for your service to our country and thank you for your encouraging and insightful feedback. I also wrote an article on chiropractic and the VA and hope to have that up on the site in the near future.

Dr. Lamar

Your grasp of the plight of chiropractors in the military is spot on! I am a retired Army pilot and have tried for years to share my skills with either the DoD or the VA. So far I have never even been called back or interviewed. My assumption is that they prefer DC’s with an alphabet behind their names, while the soldiers would definately prefer someone who has “been there and done that”. As a veteran of Operation Desert Storm and several other theraers of operation; let me assure all of those out there how vital musculoskeletal and biomechanical care is to the line soldiers. Please continue to let your voice be heard!

Dr. Mellin

Thanks for reading my SpinalColumnBlog. I am so frustrated for you. Your story is all too common and it saddens me. To date, Tricare does not accept Chiropractic. Period. We have several retired military that we see that have Medicare (which, ironically does cover Chiropractic). Once we bill Medicare, a secondary bill AUTOMATICALLY gets sent to Tricare for consideration of what Medicare did not cover….. And everytime, we get a statement back from Tricare stating that “Chiropractors are not a TRICARE payable provider. Therefore, services provided by a chiropractor are denied.” Natasha we have a HUGE file of these! Don’t you thinK that Medicare — which is a federal program — would know that their cousin, Tricare, does NOT cover Chiropractic. Why do we tax payers need to waste all this administrative money!!! (excuse my rant).

So what to do? I don’t know your entire situation. Every automobile case is different and I’m sure the laws that I am aware of here in WA state are very different from your Washington in DC. You may want to consult with an Attorney. At the very least, you may find a compassionate Chiropractor that will help you get the care you need at a fee that you can afford.

Your comment has inspired me to be a little more diligent to add to this article as I see Military Updates on Chiropractic come through. (See the video above from FOX 2 News of former Brigadier General Becky Halstead speaking about the need and advantages of chiropractic care to the US military). To get the Military to recognize Chiropractic the way we as a profession would like to see it (Chiropractic as Commissioned Officers and readily available to Active Duty, Reserves, Dependents, and Retirees) will require an ACT Of CONGRESS and a CROWBAR. You can help become part of the solution by visiting http://ChiroVoice.org and joining. It’s Free. Plus you’ll be kept in the loop as to what action is happening with regards to Chiropractic and the Military.

- Dr. Lamar