HLS 21RS-1100 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 42
BY REPRESENTATIVE STAGNI
MEDICAID MANAGED CARE: Requests the La. Department of Health to authorize
coverage through the Medicaid managed care program for services delivered by
chiropractic physicians
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to authorize coverage through the
3 Medicaid managed care program for services delivered by chiropractic physicians
4 by including the coverage requirement in the 2021 request for proposals from
5 managed care organizations for operation of the program.
6 WHEREAS, chiropractic physicians are valued providers in Louisiana's overall
7healthcare system, offering access to cost-effective, non-surgical, non-pharmacological
8treatments that support the health and wellness of their patients; and
9 WHEREAS, the health services that chiropractic physicians provide are safe and
10effective alternatives to prescription pain medications, particularly opioids; and
11 WHEREAS, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and
12Prevention, in 2016, an average of one hundred fifteen Americans died every day from an
13opioid poisoning, and over thirty times that number were treated in hospital emergency
14departments for nonfatal opioid overdoses; and
15 WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened our nation's epidemic of
16opioid abuse, which the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health
17characterizes as a "serious national crisis" that affects public health as well as social and
18economic welfare; and
19 WHEREAS, leading organizations in health care such as the Veterans Health
20Administration and the American College of Physicians recommend that for treating and
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HCR NO. 42
1managing pain, patients try conservative treatments commonly delivered by doctors of
2chiropractic as an alternative to opioids; and
3 WHEREAS, Louisiana's Medicaid managed care program currently covers
4treatments for neuromusculoskeletal conditions and various other types of services delivered
5by providers other than chiropractic physicians, but currently does not reimburse chiropractic
6physicians for providing these services, all of which are within the scope of practice of
7chiropractic established in law (R.S. 37:2801 et seq.); and
8 WHEREAS, improving access to care is a goal of our state's Medicaid program, yet
9high utilization of Medicaid-covered health services presents a budgetary concern; however,
10the Louisiana Department of Health, which administers the Louisiana Medicaid program,
11can manage this cost issue by setting utilization caps; and
12 WHEREAS, the department is currently developing a request for proposals (RFP)
13from managed care organizations for operation of the Medicaid managed care program of
14this state, and reports that it expects to issue the RFP this year.
15 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
16urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to authorize coverage through the
17Medicaid managed care program for services delivered by chiropractic physicians by
18including the coverage requirement in the 2021 request for proposals from managed care
19organizations for administration of the program.
20 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
21secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and the executive director of the Louisiana
22Medicaid Managed Care Organization Association.
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HCR 42 Original 2021 Regular Session Stagni
Urges and requests the La. Department of Health to authorize coverage through the Medicaid
managed care program for services delivered by chiropractic physicians by including the
coverage requirement in the 2021 request for proposals from managed care organizations
for administration of the program.
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