A similar bill to allow referrals to physical therapists failed, primarily due to unexpected opposition from the physical therapists, who attempted to use the bill as a vehicle for expanding their own scope of practice. Amendments sought by the PTs including giving them the right to diagnose, treat, evaluate, develop plans of care, and have direct access to patients. A bill to restore the Alabama State Board of Chiropractic's authority to issue specialty certificates failed. A very complicated HMO reform bill to provide patient access to chiropractors failed to pass. A task force was established in the House and Senate to address the issue in 2000.
Chiropractors are on both task forces.
The bill allows doctors to decline to be included on panels that don't provide patient steerage. Among the health care reform bills passed, one bill establishes an independent medical review system for patients to dispute claims when treatment has been delayed, denied or modified by their health plan. A state agency devoted exclusively to the licensing and regulation of health care service plans was established. This bill also creates the Office of the Patient Advocate to assist HMO enrollees with their complaints. Other bills passed grant patients the right to sue their health plan for harm caused by failure to provide ordinary care under the plan and require health care service plans to review treatment requests by physicians in a timely manner.