The Department of Defense has “generally adhered to the priorities
specified” in its implementation plan for making available a
chiropractic benefit for active duty armed forces personnel,
the Government Accountability Office has said.
The Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2001 directed DoD to
develop the implementation plan together with an Oversight
Advisory Committee, established in 1995 to oversee a three-year
demonstration project.
To date DoD has opened chiropractic clinics at 42 of 238 MTFs,
worldwide, and does not plan to add any additional clinics at
this time, according to GAO-05-890R.
It said all of the department’s 1.8 million active-duty personnel
are eligible for the benefit, and that clinics are located
throughout the U.S. in areas with high concentrations of active
duty personnel.
However, Defense has yet to complete actions described in the
implementation plan, such as a marketing and promotion campaign
to let personnel know about the benefit, instead leaving it up
to individual MTFs to determine if and how to advertise it, said GAO.
It also said DoD has not monitored whether the benefit currently
meets, or would likely meet future demand as specified in the
implementation plan.
