In US, Only KY Chiropractors Cannot Practice

The legislative session ended Wednesday night with the Kentucky House and Senate passing several bills and overriding a couple of Governor Andy Beshear's vetoes, but another bill related to medical care didn't get approved. Legislators were hoping it would allow chiropractors to practice in the Commonwealth - the only place in America where they can't.

Senate Bill 136 was originally written to require home-health aides to receive certain training and certification, but was amended near the end of the session to include language allowing chiropractors to open and provide emergent care if they follow CDC guidelines. 

Senator Danny Carroll and Representative Randy Bridges told West Kentucky Star a revenue measure was added to the bill that caused problems. 

Carroll said, "By rules, a revenue measure cannot generate in the senate, and because it was attached to a senate bill, that created a procedural and rules issue that leadership says invalidated the bill."

Bridges said, "There were some technicalities and we simply ran out of time, to be honest. There was not time to send it back to the house and then back to the senate. Both sides wanted to get it in and get it passed."

Since they were ordered to close on March 20, Kentucky is the only state where chiropractors are not considered, "essential," and are not allowed to practice. Some said they learned of the forced closure from the Kentucky Board of Chiropractic Examiners, while others said it was the Office of the Inspector General. Former Kentucky Senator and McCracken County Judge-Executive Bob Leeper, who is a chiropractor, called the governor's office and asked a staff member about the order to close.

Leeper said, "I had been told that it was somebody besides the governor, I approached this person about that and he said, 'no, the buck stops with the governor.' That was his quote, not the governor's, but I assume the governor is taking responsibility for it."

Bridges and Carroll both said they suspect SB136 would have been vetoed by Governor Beshear, because it would have infringed on his current power, and the end of the session means they would not have been able to override the veto. 

Carroll says the executive branch is interpreting another bill in a way that allows the governor to mandate the closure.

Senate Bill 150 was passed to give relief during the pandemic, and included language to allow health care providers to practice under certain circumstances.

"It basically says that if a healthcare provider, in their professional judgement, deems a procedure or service to be emergent or urgent, they can provide those services. They have to follow the CDC guidelines," Carroll said. 

While the bill did not specifically list every type of medical practice so they wouldn't leave anyone out, Carroll says the executive branch has been very strict in their interpretation of the law. 

"When some of these chiropractors have sought advice, they have told them they can't practice under any circumstances, and I've even gotten a message that they threatened to pull licensing of one of the providers that asked or had been providing services," Carroll said.

Leeper said chiropractors he knows have been very cautious, because if they treat patients and end up in court, their professional future could be determined by how the court interprets that same law.

Carroll said some legislators have asked Attorney General Daniel Cameron to publicly issue an opinion on SB150 to clarify that the medical professionals were to be given authority to practice with proper discretion.

Carroll added that the governor could still ignore that opinion. 

He said, "At this point, we're out of Frankfort, so he will continue to govern by executive order and there's really not much that we can do."

Leeper said he thought the language of SB150 was, "very limiting," in the types of patients he could see, even if the governor changed his interpretation.

"I've got family members who are chiropractors in other states and they're practicing as usual. It wouldn't be the same as that, but a least we could take care of those people who call us and are in a significant situation," he said.

Bridges said it's not just chiropractors, other physicians need to be able to work, too, like dentists and eye doctors. As just a small example of what he calls, "extreme measures," relating to social distancing, Bridges says his eyeglasses are broken but he can't get them fixed or replaced.

He said, "There are several instances that they're calling elective procedures that should to be allowed. If people are suffering and they're in pain...but, I don't have that power, all i can do is what I'm elected to do."

Leeper expressed that it's been tough to hear from patients that are experiencing problems that could be alleviated by his care, but he's not able to help.

"Daily we get calls from people who would like for us to see them and we can't do it," Leeper said. "Being the only state in the country that has that restriction is pretty frustrating."

Bridges said the shortened session was a game-changer, in terms of what legislators could accomplish. They gaveled into session for only 53 days, which is seven days less than allowed by the Kentucky Constitution.

"My personal feeling is we should have been up there. We've got a responsibility just as the governor, but he fought us tooth and toenail trying to keep us away," Bridges said.

Besides the shortened session, Carroll said the pandemic led lawmakers to pass only a one-year budget because they know tax revenue will be down by a substantial amount. He said it's time for leaders to begin talking about opening some businesses and services. 

Bridges said the financial shortfall in 2020, "is gonna be extreme." He said, "we've got to find a balance," between keeping everyone safe and keeping businesses operational for the sake of the economy and budget responsibility.

Carroll said, "Is it time to open back up the entire state? No, that would be irresponsible. But it's time for us to put our plans together and start looking in that direction."

He added, "I think it's enough of the, 'Andy Beshear Hour,' every day. They need to spend more time planning on getting this state going again. That's where the leadership is really going to be needed because we are going to struggle as a state - economically, fiscally - and we're gonna need some strong leadership through that."

Bridges said the only updates he gets are at 4 pm every day just like everyone else, and the executive branch has not reached out to legislators as far as he knows. 

He said, "You've got 138 people peppered throughout the state that knows each community, city, county much better than one person could ever know. That's probably the most disappointing part is that there's no cooperation."