Scope Bill Passes Senate! Focus Now on Assembly as End of Session Draws Near
Big, Breaking News! NYSCA’s #1 legislative priority - a long overdue update to the chiropractic scope of practice - cleared the NYS Senate late this afternoon by an overwhelming majority vote. The focus of NYSCA’s lobbying efforts now shifts to the legislature’s lower house, where the bill’s Assembly sponsor, Assemblymember Sarah Clark, will spearhead the effort to achieve a similar outcome among the Assembly’s 150 members.
We will provide a more detailed report when it is appropriate. The state legislature is scheduled to recess sometime next week. In the meantime, watch your email and our social media channels for late breaking updates.
As a reminder, the bill is a comprehensive update to the chiropractic scope of practice. Among its many noteworthy provisions, the definition of chiropractic was streamlined, keeping the historical tenets of detection and correction of the subluxation yet allowing for stand alone treatment of other articulations (extremities) and neuromusculoskeletal dysfunction.
The language now also allows for DOT examinations as well as other examination procedures as currently defined under the practice of chiropractic. In addition, it would codify numerous State Board definitions, including the use of diagnostic imaging (CT, MRI and ultrasound) in addition to x-ray. The use of clinical laboratory methods directly related to the diagnosis and monitoring of neuromusculoskeletal conditions is also permitted, and includes those assessing nutritional or metabolic factors that impact musculoskeletal health.
