NEW YORK CHIROPRACTIC COUNCIL ANNOUNCES PASSAGE OF CRITICALLY IMPORTANT AUDIT REFORM LEGISLATION IN NEW YORK
(July 16) The New York Chiropractic Council is pleased to report that the New York State Senate today passed critically important post-payment audit reform legislation. The legislation, S.5472-A/A.8402-A, was the Council’s number one legislative priority this year. The State Assembly passed the companion bill, A. 8402-A, several weeks ago. The bill will now be sent to Governor Paterson for final action.
Passage of the Audit Reform bill was the result of a joint lobbying effort between the Council and the New York State Chiropractic Association, through the Joint Legislative Task Force (JLTF). The post-payment audit language is actually part of a larger managed care reform bill and its inclusion was a direct result of the JLTF’s successful lobbying to ensure that the audit language be included in any final legislative agreement. The bill is important to the chiropractic profession because it will limit from six to two years the “look-back period” for post payment audits of doctors of chiropractic, thereby achieving parity with the medical profession in this regard. The bill was sponsored in the Senate by Senator Neil Breslin and was sponsored in the Assembly by Assemblyman Joe Morelle.
Dr. Glenn Scarpelli, President of the Council, said “I am thrilled that we have been successful in advancing legislation that will establish fair, uniform and consistent procedures for the processing of overpayment recovery claims by insurance companies, regardless of whether the health care provider is a medical doctor or a doctor of chiropractic.” Dr. Ellen Coyne, Chair of the Council’s Legislative Committee, noted that passage “was the result of a well coordinated lobbying effort between the Council and NYSCA, especially considering that we first approached the legislature about this bill earlier this year.” Council lobbyist and former State Senator Nick Spano noted that the legislation “will finally end the arbitrary and capricious treatment of doctors of chiropractic by many health insurance companies regarding alleged overpayment audits.”
The Council and the JLTF will remain vigilant and continue to lobby for the bill‘s passage once it is sent to the Governor for his final consideration.