Along with emails and calls, your physical presence at the hearing is urgently needed. Without a room full of chiropractors, the Senators will think our profession really doesn't care if the bill passes or not. Come to the State Senate at 1700 W. Washington in Phoenix. Parking is just East of 17th Ave. and the State Senate is just West of 17th Ave. on the South Side. The hearing will be in Senate Hearing Room 1. You can speak for up to 5 minutes to the Committee about how BCBS limits on visits and dollar amounts through ASH are killing your practice. PLEASE be sure to come! Plan on arriving at 1:30 PM for the 2:00 PM hearing and I will meet you in front of the hearing room.
SB 1362 makes copays for chiropractors the same as they are for PCPs. It also prohibits insurers from singling out chiropractors for utilization review and post payment audit reviews by requiring that both be equally applied to MDs and DOs. It will include language requiring ADOI to enforce the law unless ADOI makes a public statement in the near future announcing it has changed policy and will enforce the law.
To pass this bill, it is essential that each member of the committee receives dozens of calls and emails, and that you come to the hearing. Below you will find committee member names, phone numbers, email addresses, and a script to use. If you have any questions, call Dr. Immerman at 602-368-9496.
Nancy Barto R-15 602-936-5766 nbarto@azleg.gov
Judy Burges R-22 602-926-5861 jburges@azleg.gov
Kelli Ward R-5 602-926-4138 kward@azleg.gov
Kimberly Yee R-20 602-926-3024 kyee@azleg.gov
David Bradley D-10 602-926-5262 dbradley@azleg.gov
Katie Hobbs D-24 602-926-5325 khobbs@azleg.gov
Linda Lopez D-2 602-926-4089 llopez@azleg.gov
Every chiropractor should call and/or email every member of the committee personally the week of Feb. 11th. Go to this webpage to see if you live or practice in the district of any of the members of the committee: http://www.azleg.gov/alisStaticPages/HowToContactMember.asp.
If you live in the district, call or email and emphasize that you are a constituent. If you practice in the district, get at least 10 patients/staff/family to call from your office and state the script below. Or print this page and give it to the patient for them to send an email. It will take less than 1 minute to do so.
"Hello, my name is _______________ spelled as ______________ and I am (if am not, don't mention at all) a constituent of yours. I wanted to ask you to support SB 1362 Insurance; Unfair Practices; Utilization Review which will be heard Feb. 20th in the Senate Health Committee. Please work hard to get this passed since it is very important to me. Thank you very much." Or print this page and give it to the patient for them to send an email.
Are you really sick and tired of abuse by insurance companies? Do you really want to get rid of ASH? Then send the emails and make the calls. Also, plan on appearing at the Senate Health Committee on Feb. 20th at 2 PM in Senate Hearing Room 1. You can speak for up to 5 minutes and tell the committee your story about why this bill needs to be passed. This is our only opportunity for a public hearing in the Senate for all of 2013. Don't miss it if you want real change in your practice. It's now or never!! Call Dr. Immerman at 602-368-9496 with any questions.
