We Survived
- What Will National Health Care Bring
The debate over National Health Care reform is really
heating up. And it seems that each day we hear new
proposals that either will help chiropractic, or spell
its doom. The truth of the matter is no matter what
happens in national healthcare, chiropractic will be
just fine. However, many chiropractors may not.
Chiropractic
has survived in spite of a very hard road. We survived
when we did not have a license and they were throwing
our doctors into jail for practicing. We survived many
decades without any insurance coverage when the only
way a DC got paid was when the patient paid them. We
survived lack of recognition and accreditation for our
schools. We survived millions of dollars being
spent in an illegal antitrust effort against us. We are
surviving billboards and busses designed to scare people
out of our offices. And we are surviving over $30
billion a year being spent by the drug industry to tell
the world that drugs are the way to go.
The reason we have survived
is NOT because we were united. We did NOT survive
because we were great politicians, or we had any great
political clout. We did NOT survive because we are
smarter than the forces against us. And we did NOT
survive because of the vast body of scientific evidence
supporting chiropractic. We ONLY survived, and continue
to do so because of two things. WE HAVE THE TRUTH, and
WE HAVE OUR PATIENTS!
In the ultimate David versus
Goliath battle we are still here and growing in usage
and public acceptance worldwide. It is the simple truth
that giving a specific scientific chiropractic
adjustment to correct a subluxation will change a
person's life, that has kept us alive. This truth will
not go away no matter what type of national healthcare
comes to pass. However, what will be required is
for chiropractors to adapt to living with a new national
system.
We as a profession will be
forced to focus more on our fundamental tenets and
unique service in order to survive. It is the correction
of subluxations that makes us valuable. That is what the
public cannot live without, and will be willing to pay
for in any kind of national system. Sure I want
chiropractic included in National Health Care. But no
matter how it is included, the people will still need to
be adjusted.
In this time of financial
downturn, there are more large practices in chiropractic
than ever before. If you look at them, you will see a
common thread. They are focused on subluxation
correction, and education. This is the secret to
survival in National Health Care. In the final analysis,
ChiropracTIC will be just fine in any national
healthcare plan. It is the Chiropractor, that may , or
may not do as well.
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