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Committee advances bill to bar insurers from paying chiropractors differently for equivalent services
Summary
House Bill 29, which would prohibit health insurers from using reimbursement methodologies that pay chiropractors less than medical physicians for services within chiropractors' lawful scope of practice, passed the Insurance Subcommittee 6-0 and will move to the full committee.
House Bill 29, aimed at standardizing reimbursement methodology so chiropractors are not paid differently than medical physicians for services within their lawful scope of practice, passed the Insurance Subcommittee on Feb. 26 and will go to the full Insurance Committee.
Chairman Sopicki, the bill's sponsor, told the committee the legislation "prohibits a health insurance entity from discriminating between a chiropractic physician and a medical physician with respect to the methodology used to calculate reimbursement or the amount of reimbursement to be paid for a service that is in the lawful scope of practice of a duly licensed chiropractic physician." He said the bill would also prevent insurers from circumventing that prohibition by creating chiropractic-specific codes or payment methodologies not listed in the nationally recognized code book insurers use to set reimbursement.
Committee members sought clarification on practical effects. Representative Hakim asked if the bill would ensure chiropractors are "paid at the same rate as doctors." Sopicki explained the bill would require use of the same billing codes (such as CPT codes) when the same service is provided so that compensation is aligned.
An amendment to the bill (drafting code 0004067) was offered and adopted; the amendment remade the bill. The clerk reported a 6-0 vote in favor of passage after the amendment was attached. The transcript does not record individual roll-call votes; the clerk announced six ayes and zero nays. House Bill 29 will proceed to the full Insurance Committee for further consideration.
The transcript does not include the bill's exact statutory text or an analysis of potential fiscal impacts; those details will be needed as the bill moves forward.
