On May 25, 2000, two medical doctors filed a lawsuit in Madison County, Illinois, Circuit Court, the first in a series of legal filings that now includes three class-action lawsuits and thousands of health care providers, including doctors of chiropractic. The lawsuits name CIGNA Healthcare and a number of other plans as defendants. In the legal process, the venue was moved to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
On December 21, 2004, the court preliminarily approved a settlement totaling $11.55 million, along with an additional $7.5 million for attorneys' fees. As a part of the proposed settlement, CIGNA HealthCare has agreed to make certain commitments regarding its business practices and disclosures to health care providers. The court will hold a second hearing on April 26, 2005 at 2:30 p.m., to review the settlement and will decide whether to grant final approval of the settlement.
In general, CIGNA HealthCare and other plans are alleged to have improperly denied, delayed and/or reduced payment to health care providers by engaging in several types of allegedly improper conduct.
Doctors who provided covered services between Jan. 1, 1990 and Dec. 29, 2004 to a CIGNA health care member, or to any person covered by a plan offered or administered by any or all of the following other defendants, are included in the litigation:
Additional details are available at www.cignaprovidersettlement.com.
Recent laws in New Jersey and California represent a disturbing trend that will negatively impact a practice’s ability to collect monies from patients, as well as expose them to significant penalties if the practice does not follow the mandatory guidelines to a T. Please be aware that a similar law may be coming to your state. The time to act is before the law is passed.
With estimates showing over 30 million Americans affected by peripheral neuropathy – and a significant portion underdiagnosed – it’s increasingly likely that chiropractors are already treating these patients. What’s missing is structured recognition, comprehensive management and targeted tools to slow progression, improve function and support systemic health.
Each year, ICD-10-CM is updated on Oct. 1. For 2026, there are 74,179 total codes, with 487 additions, 28 deletions and 38 revisions. Code changes are based on date of service, not the claim submission date. Services performed on/after Oct. 1 must use the new codes. While no changes affect the common spinal or extraspinal codes most frequently used by DCs, several updates may still affect your claims – particularly for comorbidities, referred pain, or trauma cases.
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