Medicare Coverage For Chiropractic Care and Deductible Periods

How does Medicare work with chiropractic care?

Numerous misunderstanding of charges for the $100 deductible are not sent to the Medicare, and that the $100 can be met by going to more than one physician - for example, if the chiropractor sends the patient to a medical doctor for their high blood pressure. If each charges $65.00, this is when Medicare jumps in and starts paying the 80%. But why do we have to pay $100 in December, then if we need to go back in January we have to pay the $100 again? A year is just starting but what if you only had one month of charges in the previous year? Why are the x-rays not covered by a chiropractor when they must x-ray before they can treat a person?

Until recently, in order for chiropractic care to qualify for Medicare coverage there was a Catch 22. Medicare required an annual x-ray, but did not cover the cost of the x-ray. The coverage was only for the chiropractor's "manual manipulation of the spine for correcting a subluxation." There are no limits to the number of treatments as long as they are medically necessary to correct a specific condition.

Medicare no longer requires the annual x-ray, and still does not provide any coverage for them. New chiropractic patients, or patients who have not had an x-ray for some time however, may still require an x-ray for their course of chiropractic treatment as you have pointed out.

There is an initial $100 annual deductible for Medicare Part B (medical services). The annual deductible period is January 1 through December 31. Even if you only require care in December and do not have enough charges to satisfy your $100 deductible, it starts all over again in the new calendar year. This works the same way for most Medigap health insurance as well. You or your Medigap insurance are responsible for the paying the $100 Part B deductible. Once that is paid for then Medicare pays 80% of the Medicare approved charges.