Chiropractic Treatment
Choosing a doctor of chiropractic is the key to getting the best care available. Statistics indicate that the amount of suffering, time lost from work and cost of treatment are all significantly reduced when the injured person receives chiropractic care. Upon injury, the individual often alters the normal position or flexibility of the spinal vertebrae. Chiropractic treatment is designed to restore normal alignment and thus minimize pain and suffering without prescribing drugs or performing surgery.
Chiropractors also provide guidance with advice designed to reduce work-related injuries. The proper lifting procedures and the therapeutic stretching exercises he can suggest may prove helpful in preventing future injuries.
Comparative Statistics
A study done in Wisconsin of 1977 back strain and sprain cases comparing chiropractic care to medical care revealed these statistics:
Health Care Avg. No. of Healing Days Avg. No. of Compensation Days Avg. Cost per Case
Chiropractic 14.1 13.2 $145.64
Medical 18.3 21.3 $267.58
A study done in California by Dr. C. Richard Wolf, showed these comparisons:
Health Care Avg. No. Work Days Lost Reporting Complete Recovery Reporting No. Loss of Work Time Losing over 60 Work Days
Chiropractic 15.6 51% 47.9% 6.7%
Medical 32 34.8% 211% 13.2%
Figures from Worker’s Compensation boards in 44 states and Canada comparing wages lost by workers with low back injuries provided these results:
Health Care Wages Lost
Chiropractic $55.42
Osteopathy $76.06
Medical (nonhospitalized) $95.06
Medical (hospitalized) $163.44
Back strain studies in the following states resulted in these figures of average treatment costs per case:
State Chiropractic Medical
Iowa $79.92 $210.86
Oregon $72.92 $298.52
Kansas $65.59 $102.53
Note: All dollar figures stated have dramitaically increased in recent years because of rising health care costs and inflation.
You are obviously at least 1 of these 3 groups or more.
Chiropractor, work for a chiropractor, or a claimant who wanted more money and time off work.
It is widely known that even though a visit to the doctor may cost more than going to a chiropractor…the number of visits are the key. In a majority of the cases, a claimant will “visit” a chiropractor 2-3 times more than a claimant using a real physician and often get the same medical results. More visits equals more time off work, which in turn increases wages paid as well. If cost per visit is all you can say, then you apparently aren’t the one having to pay the premium for employees years after a claim has been sent to a chiropractor.
Check out WCRInet.org for an unbiased report of where costs of WC claims go and how much.
Sam,
Obviously you have never been injured at work and been thrown to the work comp. insurance wolves to be ripped apart and left for “dead.”
Whether or not you are in a position of paying for work comp. insurance, EVERYONE seems to have lost all sight of the human element- and the lives that ARE DESTROYED by work comp. insurance carriers and many of their medical doctors.
People can get hurt at work just easily as they can anywhere. When it happens at work, you are instantly thought of as a fraud and not worthy of even being able to use the health insurance that you work and PAY for. It is DENIED to you by your employer and lawmakers.
You also instantly become a number, a dollar sign and a statistic. You are no longer a hard working mother with children to feed and support; whether or not they are well or sick, whether or not you already have medical bills pilling up, whether or not you can pay your rent or mortgage and whether or not you want extremely harmful, chemical drugs pumped into your body and whether or not you want your body sliced and diced.
Compassion and HUMANism is a thing of the past now. Especially with the new legislation being passed in Texas. I don’t see anyone looking at the system from the injured workers’ point of view. You have ALL forgotten there are two sides to every coin.
The legislators who are working to pass this bill and the insurance companies are nothing but common theives and thugs- working diligently to line their own pockets and pump their own personal interests.
Just imagine that you go to your doctor with a terribly painful injury, KNOWING that he/she is being PAID to give you the very least amount of treatment humanly possible and still be able to declare you “patched enough,” (or MMI, as they call it). KNOWING that the LESS your doctor does for you, the MORE he/she will be PAID.
Now imagine you go back to work, still in pain and still not healed and your employer trumps up some phoney excuse to FIRE you. (SETON Healthcare of Austin, TEX. loves this tactic). You are now still injured, still in terrible pain and now unemployed and you have lost the health care insurance that you worked and PAID for, but could not use. You are SCREWED.
Welcome to the “Workers Compensation” system. Fasten your seat belt dear, because it’s one hell of a ride. Literally.
One alternative solution of HB7 & all this W/C grief to opt out. Anyone know anything about that? I read 35% of the employers in Texas have done that. What does that entail? Risks? Benefits? Cost? Quality health care?
The problem is that insurance companies are not in the business of “ensuring” you anything- let alone health care. This country needs socialized healthcare (such as Australia has)so that money is not the driving force behind whether or not you can get the care you need.
With insurance companies pulling all the strings, I can assure you, you are more likely to receive little or nothing of what you need. They also only pay your doctor what they are contractedly willing to pay. So, doctors get screwed and so do the patients. Especially because, the doctors know they have to “x” number of patients per day in order to pay their expenses and make a living. Which means most doctors are going to give each patient “x” number of minutes per visit. The doctors are rushing the patients, and having to book you for another 5 minute appointment later, (so they’ll collect the per visit fee) whether or not they’ve even had a chance to truly evaluate you.
Insurance companies often make your health much worse. The horrible stress you have to endure from dealing with nasty adjusters, and the stingy companies themselves, creates untold additional health problems.
Additionally, (such as in my case) you are also at the mercy of the insurance company whenever you need to renew a prescription. So, between the insurance company, the doctor’s office and the pharmacy, I always have to wait at least one and a half to three weeks AFTER I’ve run out of medication, in order to get it re-filled.
This leaves you totally stressed out, in pain and constantly frustrated and they know it. I believe it’s a purposeful technique they use to reduce the cost of “your file”. You. They are hoping you’ll just decide the additional stress of it all, including all the paperwork, isn’t worth it and that you’ll just go away.
After-all, they aren’t stupid. They have it down to a fine science and they know very well that people are already very busy with their lives.
The bottom line is that as long insurance companies are in control of our doctors and healthcare, Americans are screwed.
Pippin,
I don’t know your situation. Understand that insurance is a business. For every case like yours (legitimate health problem caused at work?) there are at least 10 or more cases that really are fraudulent. As much as you would like to think that everyone that claims on Work Comp is really hurt…or at least hurt at work..they are not. Those 10 cases can cost anywhere between $5000 to $150,000 each. By fraudulent, I am not saying they weren’t injured..but a great deal of them are injured at home or playing softball or something like that and come into work Monday and fake a fall to claim on their employers’ work comp.
Now, this is not your fault, I agree. But, someone is paying the bill for all cases..cause if you remember, Work Comp is “no fault” coverage…you get hurt at work..doesn’t matter how, as long as you weren’t on drugs or alcohol..you get paid for time off work and get to go to the doctor for free.
So, if the insurance company is a business, then the insurance company is compelled to hire investigators to track down and find these fake injured workers on vacation skiing with a “bad back” or working a part-time job while collecting Work Comp weekly salary for being too hurt to work.
I would bet that they don’t cath even 10% of the bad guys/gals.
How do you suppose to fix it? It’s easy for you to say “take care of me better because I really am hurt”, but which pot of gold do you think all this money is coming from? Something has to be set in place to keep the fraudulent claims to a minimum so they have money to pay anything.
And no, you didn’t PAY for your health coverage when it comes to workers’ comp..that is an insurance policy only the employer pays…your personal health insurance you might pay 50-100% of, but it doesn’t even come into play in a work injury.
Sam, let me understand this,and tell me where I can look up your statistics, for every valid workers’ compensation claim there are 10 fradulent ones. These odds are better than Vegas. I also think you misunderstoop Pippin in regards to her own insurance, she cannot use it since it was a work related injury; she must go through the red-taped workers’ compensation system of insurance companies not willing to pay for a simple doctor visit or prescription. There are numerous programs which need reform, such as Social Security Disability, but if an insurance company is not footing the bill, either to pay claims, or to pay legislators, then that reform will either never happen or not be on the table anytime soon.
I actually did some research and couldn’t find an exact ratio…but I did find that insurance fraud losses are at $30 billion a year. Not all of that is Workers’ Compensation claims, but it’s still coming out of the same pockets since a majority of insurance carriers that write WC also write other lines of insurance.
I guess my main point is that I am not defending insurance carriers, but both the insurer and the insured are the problem.
If my company whether in insurance or not was losing large sums of money every year on fraud..you can bet I would have an extensive procedure that all clients had to go thru to minimize fraud. Now, that may not be too appetizing to my customers..but it’s alot better than making them pay 10-30% more next year to make up for the loss due to the fraudulent customers. Maybe this can temporarily slow or even stop medical attention and prescriptions…but this is the way the carriers choose to protect themselves.
To get back to the subject, this Bill if passed, I believe will aleviate or at least curtail the usage of chiropractors, who in my opinion, are all glorified physical trainers…they should never have made it into the insurance claims system in the first place. Chiropractors get the same results, but the costs for the same results through a medical physician are 30% lower, not to mention the “time off work” is increased with chiropractors to around 20-30% or more. There are a vast number of articles on this subject, feel free to check my facts.
Bottom line…stop the fraud and running up the bill…insurance premiums go down and timely medical attention increases.
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Chiropractic Treatment
Choosing a doctor of chiropractic is the key to getting the best care available. Statistics indicate that the amount of suffering, time lost from work and cost of treatment are all significantly reduced when the injured person receives chiropractic care. Upon injury, the individual often alters the normal position or flexibility of the spinal vertebrae. Chiropractic treatment is designed to restore normal alignment and thus minimize pain and suffering without prescribing drugs or performing surgery.
Chiropractors also provide guidance with advice designed to reduce work-related injuries. The proper lifting procedures and the therapeutic stretching exercises he can suggest may prove helpful in preventing future injuries.
Comparative Statistics
A study done in Wisconsin of 1977 back strain and sprain cases comparing chiropractic care to medical care revealed these statistics:
Health Care Avg. No. of Healing Days Avg. No. of Compensation Days Avg. Cost per Case
Chiropractic 14.1 13.2 $145.64
Medical 18.3 21.3 $267.58
A study done in California by Dr. C. Richard Wolf, showed these comparisons:
Health Care Avg. No. Work Days Lost Reporting Complete Recovery Reporting No. Loss of Work Time Losing over 60 Work Days
Chiropractic 15.6 51% 47.9% 6.7%
Medical 32 34.8% 211% 13.2%
Figures from Worker’s Compensation boards in 44 states and Canada comparing wages lost by workers with low back injuries provided these results:
Health Care Wages Lost
Chiropractic $55.42
Osteopathy $76.06
Medical (nonhospitalized) $95.06
Medical (hospitalized) $163.44
Back strain studies in the following states resulted in these figures of average treatment costs per case:
State Chiropractic Medical
Iowa $79.92 $210.86
Oregon $72.92 $298.52
Kansas $65.59 $102.53
Note: All dollar figures stated have dramitaically increased in recent years because of rising health care costs and inflation.
You are obviously at least 1 of these 3 groups or more.
Chiropractor, work for a chiropractor, or a claimant who wanted more money and time off work.
It is widely known that even though a visit to the doctor may cost more than going to a chiropractor…the number of visits are the key. In a majority of the cases, a claimant will “visit” a chiropractor 2-3 times more than a claimant using a real physician and often get the same medical results. More visits equals more time off work, which in turn increases wages paid as well. If cost per visit is all you can say, then you apparently aren’t the one having to pay the premium for employees years after a claim has been sent to a chiropractor.
Check out WCRInet.org for an unbiased report of where costs of WC claims go and how much.
Referring to chiropractors as doctors might lead to more creditability in the future.
Credibility, sorry, I was still laughing..
Sam,
Obviously you have never been injured at work and been thrown to the work comp. insurance wolves to be ripped apart and left for “dead.”
Whether or not you are in a position of paying for work comp. insurance, EVERYONE seems to have lost all sight of the human element- and the lives that ARE DESTROYED by work comp. insurance carriers and many of their medical doctors.
People can get hurt at work just easily as they can anywhere. When it happens at work, you are instantly thought of as a fraud and not worthy of even being able to use the health insurance that you work and PAY for. It is DENIED to you by your employer and lawmakers.
You also instantly become a number, a dollar sign and a statistic. You are no longer a hard working mother with children to feed and support; whether or not they are well or sick, whether or not you already have medical bills pilling up, whether or not you can pay your rent or mortgage and whether or not you want extremely harmful, chemical drugs pumped into your body and whether or not you want your body sliced and diced.
Compassion and HUMANism is a thing of the past now. Especially with the new legislation being passed in Texas. I don’t see anyone looking at the system from the injured workers’ point of view. You have ALL forgotten there are two sides to every coin.
The legislators who are working to pass this bill and the insurance companies are nothing but common theives and thugs- working diligently to line their own pockets and pump their own personal interests.
Just imagine that you go to your doctor with a terribly painful injury, KNOWING that he/she is being PAID to give you the very least amount of treatment humanly possible and still be able to declare you “patched enough,” (or MMI, as they call it). KNOWING that the LESS your doctor does for you, the MORE he/she will be PAID.
Now imagine you go back to work, still in pain and still not healed and your employer trumps up some phoney excuse to FIRE you. (SETON Healthcare of Austin, TEX. loves this tactic). You are now still injured, still in terrible pain and now unemployed and you have lost the health care insurance that you worked and PAID for, but could not use. You are SCREWED.
Welcome to the “Workers Compensation” system. Fasten your seat belt dear, because it’s one hell of a ride. Literally.
Pippin.
One alternative solution of HB7 & all this W/C grief to opt out. Anyone know anything about that? I read 35% of the employers in Texas have done that. What does that entail? Risks? Benefits? Cost? Quality health care?
The problem is that insurance companies are not in the business of “ensuring” you anything- let alone health care. This country needs socialized healthcare (such as Australia has)so that money is not the driving force behind whether or not you can get the care you need.
With insurance companies pulling all the strings, I can assure you, you are more likely to receive little or nothing of what you need. They also only pay your doctor what they are contractedly willing to pay. So, doctors get screwed and so do the patients. Especially because, the doctors know they have to “x” number of patients per day in order to pay their expenses and make a living. Which means most doctors are going to give each patient “x” number of minutes per visit. The doctors are rushing the patients, and having to book you for another 5 minute appointment later, (so they’ll collect the per visit fee) whether or not they’ve even had a chance to truly evaluate you.
Insurance companies often make your health much worse. The horrible stress you have to endure from dealing with nasty adjusters, and the stingy companies themselves, creates untold additional health problems.
Additionally, (such as in my case) you are also at the mercy of the insurance company whenever you need to renew a prescription. So, between the insurance company, the doctor’s office and the pharmacy, I always have to wait at least one and a half to three weeks AFTER I’ve run out of medication, in order to get it re-filled.
This leaves you totally stressed out, in pain and constantly frustrated and they know it. I believe it’s a purposeful technique they use to reduce the cost of “your file”. You. They are hoping you’ll just decide the additional stress of it all, including all the paperwork, isn’t worth it and that you’ll just go away.
After-all, they aren’t stupid. They have it down to a fine science and they know very well that people are already very busy with their lives.
The bottom line is that as long insurance companies are in control of our doctors and healthcare, Americans are screwed.
What a racket, eh?
Pippin,
I don’t know your situation. Understand that insurance is a business. For every case like yours (legitimate health problem caused at work?) there are at least 10 or more cases that really are fraudulent. As much as you would like to think that everyone that claims on Work Comp is really hurt…or at least hurt at work..they are not. Those 10 cases can cost anywhere between $5000 to $150,000 each. By fraudulent, I am not saying they weren’t injured..but a great deal of them are injured at home or playing softball or something like that and come into work Monday and fake a fall to claim on their employers’ work comp.
Now, this is not your fault, I agree. But, someone is paying the bill for all cases..cause if you remember, Work Comp is “no fault” coverage…you get hurt at work..doesn’t matter how, as long as you weren’t on drugs or alcohol..you get paid for time off work and get to go to the doctor for free.
So, if the insurance company is a business, then the insurance company is compelled to hire investigators to track down and find these fake injured workers on vacation skiing with a “bad back” or working a part-time job while collecting Work Comp weekly salary for being too hurt to work.
I would bet that they don’t cath even 10% of the bad guys/gals.
How do you suppose to fix it? It’s easy for you to say “take care of me better because I really am hurt”, but which pot of gold do you think all this money is coming from? Something has to be set in place to keep the fraudulent claims to a minimum so they have money to pay anything.
And no, you didn’t PAY for your health coverage when it comes to workers’ comp..that is an insurance policy only the employer pays…your personal health insurance you might pay 50-100% of, but it doesn’t even come into play in a work injury.
Sam, let me understand this,and tell me where I can look up your statistics, for every valid workers’ compensation claim there are 10 fradulent ones. These odds are better than Vegas. I also think you misunderstoop Pippin in regards to her own insurance, she cannot use it since it was a work related injury; she must go through the red-taped workers’ compensation system of insurance companies not willing to pay for a simple doctor visit or prescription. There are numerous programs which need reform, such as Social Security Disability, but if an insurance company is not footing the bill, either to pay claims, or to pay legislators, then that reform will either never happen or not be on the table anytime soon.
I actually did some research and couldn’t find an exact ratio…but I did find that insurance fraud losses are at $30 billion a year. Not all of that is Workers’ Compensation claims, but it’s still coming out of the same pockets since a majority of insurance carriers that write WC also write other lines of insurance.
I guess my main point is that I am not defending insurance carriers, but both the insurer and the insured are the problem.
If my company whether in insurance or not was losing large sums of money every year on fraud..you can bet I would have an extensive procedure that all clients had to go thru to minimize fraud. Now, that may not be too appetizing to my customers..but it’s alot better than making them pay 10-30% more next year to make up for the loss due to the fraudulent customers. Maybe this can temporarily slow or even stop medical attention and prescriptions…but this is the way the carriers choose to protect themselves.
To get back to the subject, this Bill if passed, I believe will aleviate or at least curtail the usage of chiropractors, who in my opinion, are all glorified physical trainers…they should never have made it into the insurance claims system in the first place. Chiropractors get the same results, but the costs for the same results through a medical physician are 30% lower, not to mention the “time off work” is increased with chiropractors to around 20-30% or more. There are a vast number of articles on this subject, feel free to check my facts.
Bottom line…stop the fraud and running up the bill…insurance premiums go down and timely medical attention increases.