US · guidance
CMS Pub. 100-16, ch. mc86c17f, § 20.2
Chiropractic Services
(Rev. 77, Issued: 10-28-05, Effective Date: 10-28-05)
Section 1861(r) of the Social Security Act provides the definition of a physician for
Medicare coverage purposes, which includes a chiropractor for treatment of manual
manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation. (As a standard Medicare Part B
benefit, manual manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation must be made
available to enrollees of cost plans.) The statute specifically references manual
manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation as a physician service. Thus,
Medicare cost plan organizations offering cost plans must use physicians, which include
chiropractors, to perform this service. They may not use non-physician physical
therapists for manual manipulation of the spine to correct a subluxation. Medicare cost
plans may continue to use physical therapists to treat enrollees for conditions not
requiring physician services as defined in §1861 (r) of the Social Security Act.
History
(Rev. 77, Issued: 10-28-05, Effective Date: 10-28-05)
Provenance
- Source
- cms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-08-25
- Edition
- iom-2026-08-25
- Content hash
a9afb50c2ed860cae51277a23c423d2f10793f1e9c8be03620da2a9da4a3da29
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