CLHIA concerned about benefit plan impact of proposed change to chiropractor services

Michael Chen

The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is warning that private sector employers may not be willing to cover new diagnostic services proposed as part of an expansion of the scope of practice for Alberta chiropractors.

The Alberta College and Association of Chiropractors has applied to Alberta Health Services for changes that would allow “appropriately trained chiropractors to deliver electrodiagnosis in needle electromyography and nerve conduction studies, as well as to apply non-ionizing radiation in ultrasound imaging,” according to the CLHIA.

Provincial health plans currently cover the the two tests, says Joan Weir, director of health and dental policy at the CLHIA. But the proposed change could mean private sector insurance companies would have to cover the costs and would then pass them on to plan sponsors, she notes.

The college’s “submission to Alberta Health Services specifically states that they are assuming that private insurance will pick up the costs of these tests, should they move from the public sector, as they are being paid today,” says Weir.

“Our caution back to the Alberta Health Services is that this would not necessarily be the case.”

Continue reading...