Contact: Carri Cummings

916-341-0472 office or 916-502-1131 cell

Kristine Shultz, 916-648-2727 x. 130

The Case for Chiropractic Care

Doctors of chiropractic are focused on cost-saving care that returns patients to normal function, without the use of expensive drugs or surgery. Chiropractors have been effective partners in the care of injured California workers for more than 50 years. The case for chiropractic care includes these facts:

• Independent studies show chiropractic treatment is at least as cost-effective, if not more so, than comparable medical care.
• No credible evidence exists to show that chiropractic and other medical costs are responsible for the skyrocketing increases in workers’ compensation premiums. In fact, the insurance industry’s own report shows that the average medical cost per claim in California was typical of the 12 states it studied.
• Chiropractors in California have a broad scope of practice that enables them to fully treat patients without referring them to other providers.
• California’s injured workers were more likely to choose chiropractic care than workers in other states because chiropractic care is more readily available and has greater acceptance in California than in other states.
• Insurance industry “studies” fail to note that many patients come to chiropractic care after traditional medical treatments have failed to improve their injuries. Additionally, the “reports” fail to note continued patient costs when chiropractic care was denied. For example, a flawed study that attempted to show savings due to Florida’s cap on chiropractic visits did not take into account increased costs of medical doctor treatments that took place after chiropractic care was cut off.
• Insurance industry studies compare apples and bananas. In calculating cost comparisons between chiropractic care and medical care, they failed to combine medical visits, physical therapy visits and drug costs in calculating medical care costs when comparing to chiropractic costs.
• Numerous independent studies suggest that users of chiropractic services had better health outcomes, higher satisfaction and lower costs relative to patients who use traditional medicine.