SB 1362 failed to pass the full State Senate today because Senators believed the lie that the bill turned chiropractors into primary care physicians. Osteopathic Physician Senator Ward gave an impassioned speech just before the vote stating the bill would turn DCs into PCPs and said such a change would be totally inappropriate. Many Senators who had promised to vote yes then changed their votes to no and the bill failed 10-17. We intend to educate the Senators who voted no and then have the bill reconsidered by the full Senate.

            Senator Ward, D.O. had expressed her concerns in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee that the bill would turn DCs into PCPs and her belief that was totally wrong. We then sent her a letter after the hearing agreeing to accept an amendment from her stating "nothing in this bill shall be construed to designate or categorize DCs as PCPs." She replied that she would seriously consider this proposal. Instead, Sen. Ward never offered the amendment and did everything she could to kill the bill on the floor of the Senate.

            Shortly before the vote on the chiropractic bill, there was a bill under consideration that would have removed an MD ophthalmologist from the optometry licensing board. The bill had passed committee but Sen. Ward, D.O. pushed hard for an amendment to keep an MD on the optometry board. Her amendment failed. Then shortly thereafter, she worked very hard to kill the chiropractic legislation.

            This battle to pass the chiropractic insurance equality law is far from over. We intend to make it crystal clear that the bill does NOT make DCs PCPs. We expect this will restore our support and we will pass the bill. Stay tuned. We won't give up until the session adjourns probably in May or June.