ENROLLED
2021 Regular Session
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 42
BY REPRESENTATIVE STAGNI AND SENATORS SMITH AND TALBOT
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Louisiana 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 operation of the program.
WHEREAS, chiropractic physicians are valued providers in Louisiana's overall
healthcare system, offering access to cost-effective, non-surgical, non-pharmacological
treatments that support the health and wellness of their patients; and
WHEREAS, the health services that chiropractic physicians provide are safe and
effective alternatives to prescription pain medications, particularly opioids; and
WHEREAS, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, in 2016, an average of one hundred fifteen Americans died every day from an
opioid poisoning, and over thirty times that number were treated in hospital emergency
departments for nonfatal opioid overdoses; and
WHEREAS, the COVID-19 pandemic has only worsened our nation's epidemic of
opioid abuse, which the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health
characterizes as a "serious national crisis" that affects public health as well as social and
economic welfare; and
WHEREAS, leading organizations in health care such as the Veterans Health
Administration and the American College of Physicians recommend that for treating and
managing pain, patients try conservative treatments commonly delivered by doctors of
chiropractic as an alternative to opioids; and
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WHEREAS, Louisiana's Medicaid managed care program currently covers
treatments for neuromusculoskeletal conditions and various other types of services delivered
by providers other than chiropractic physicians, but currently does not reimburse chiropractic
physicians for providing these services, all of which are within the scope of practice of
chiropractic established in law (R.S. 37:2801 et seq.); and
WHEREAS, improving access to care is a goal of our state's Medicaid program, yet
high utilization of Medicaid-covered health services presents a budgetary concern; however,
the Louisiana Department of Health, which administers the Louisiana Medicaid program,
can manage this cost issue by setting utilization caps; and
WHEREAS, the department is currently developing a request for proposals (RFP)
from managed care organizations for operation of the Medicaid managed care program of
this state, and reports that it expects to issue the RFP this year.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana 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.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and the executive director of the Louisiana
Medicaid Managed Care Organization Association.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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