Summary

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.

To implement its chiropractic benefit, DOD has opened chiropractic clinics at 42 of its 238 MTFs, worldwide, and does not plan to add any additional clinics at this time. All of DOD's 1.8 million active-duty personnel are eligible for the benefit. The 42 chiropractic clinics are located in the United States in areas with a high number of active-duty personnel. Approximately 969,000, or 54 percent, of active-duty personnel reside in the areas served by the MTFs with chiropractic clinics. To support the benefit, DOD provides annual allotments from its health care budget. In fiscal year 2004, the allotment increased to $11 million. An additional $203,000 was provided by the MTFs with chiropractic clinics in fiscal year 2004. DOD generally adhered to the priorities specified in its implementation plan in selecting the sites for the 42 clinics and in determining the clinics' staffing levels. DOD has not completed other actions described in the implementation plan. For example, DOD's implementation plan stated that a marketing and promotion program, which would include pamphlets and other materials, would be necessary to make active-duty personnel aware of the benefit. However, DOD did not provide active-duty personnel with such materials as specified in the plan. Instead, DOD relied on each MTF to determine whether and how to promote the benefit. The implementation plan also called for close monitoring of the benefit to determine whether the benefit meets current needs, but DOD officials said that they had not monitored whether the benefit meets current or future demand from active-duty personnel.