Chiropractic Health Parity for Military Beneficiaries Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 30 To require the Secretary of Defense to develop and implement a plan to provide chiropractic health care services for certain covered beneficiaries as part of the TRICARE program. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 8, 2019 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. MORAN, and Ms. KLOBUCHAR) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To require the Secretary of Defense to develop and imple- ment a plan to provide chiropractic health care services for certain covered beneficiaries as part of the TRICARE program. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chiropractic Health 4 Parity for Military Beneficiaries Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Jan 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S30.IS S30 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 30 IS SEC. 2. CHIROPRACTIC HEALTH CARE SERVICES FROM THE 1 DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR CERTAIN 2 COVERED BENEFICIARIES. 3 (a) PLAN REQUIRED.—Not later than 30 days after 4 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 5 Defense shall complete development of a plan to provide 6 chiropractic health care services and benefits for eligible 7 covered beneficiaries as a permanent part of the TRI- 8 CARE program. 9 (b) CONTENTS OF PLAN.—The plan developed under 10 subsection (a) shall require that a contract entered into 11 under section 1097 of title 10, United States Code, for 12 the delivery of health care services shall— 13 (1) include the delivery of chiropractic services 14 to eligible covered beneficiaries; 15 (2) require that chiropractic services may be 16 provided only by a doctor of chiropractic; and 17 (3) provide that an eligible covered beneficiary 18 may select and have direct access to a doctor of 19 chiropractic without referral by another health prac- 20 titioner. 21 (c) IMPLEMENTATION OF PLAN.—The plan developed 22 under subsection (a) shall provide for implementation of 23 the plan to begin not later than 60 days after the date 24 on which the plan is completed. 25 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Jan 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S30.IS S30 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 30 IS (1) The term ‘‘chiropractic services’’— 1 (A) includes diagnosis (including by diag- 2 nostic x-ray tests), evaluation and management, 3 and therapeutic services for the treatment of a 4 patient’s health condition, including neuromus- 5 culoskeletal conditions and the subluxation com- 6 plex, and such other services determined appro- 7 priate by the Secretary of Defense and as au- 8 thorized under State law; and 9 (B) does not include the use of drugs or 10 surgery. 11 (2) The term ‘‘covered beneficiary’’ has the 12 meaning given that term in section 1072(5) of title 13 10, United States Code. 14 (3) The term ‘‘eligible covered beneficiary’’ 15 means a covered beneficiary excluding a dependent 16 of a member or former member of a uniformed serv- 17 ice. 18 (4) The term ‘‘dependent’’ has the meaning 19 given that term in section 1072(2) of title 10, 20 United States Code. 21 (5) The term ‘‘doctor of chiropractic’’ means 22 only a doctor of chiropractic who is licensed as a 23 doctor of chiropractic, chiropractic physician, or chi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Jan 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S30.IS S30 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 30 IS ropractor by a State, the District of Columbia, or a 1 territory or possession of the United States. 2 (6) The term ‘‘TRICARE program’’ has the 3 meaning given that term in section 1072(7) of title 4 10, United States Code. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:25 Jan 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S30.IS S30 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS