Your chiropractic guild was busy last spring and summer putting out the word that, yes, there are union chiropractors in Washington State. CFW attended the Council on
Political Education convention in April 2004; this is where the Washington State Labor Council decides which candidates they will support in the primary and general elections. Members of the CFW Board attended as voting delegates and were given the opportunity to approve prochiropractic candidates. A labor-endorsed candidate is generally guaranteed to win the primary and go on to the general election.

Tom Campbell, DC, our CFW president, Washington State Representative, and fellow chiropractor, addressed the convention on Initiative 895. He explained how devastating this initiative would be to our state’s healthcare system. The Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) voted to support the anti-initiative campaign. The 450,000 members of the WSLC are active politically, as are their families, and are crucial in the Washington State election process.

In June 2004, several of our Board members attended the Triennial Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Convention. The CFW guild is affiliated with this organization. This convention brings together delegates from the U.S. and Canada to discuss issues relating to its members. The OPEIU President, Michael Goodwin, is a progressive and innovative leader who is extremely dedicated to his cause and is developing new in-roads with private contractors as well as professionals in all areas of our economy.

Under the OPEIU umbrella there are pilots, insurance agents, ancillary healthcare providers, mental health professionals, podiatrists and chiropractors, as well as other professional office workers. Our affiliation with OPEIU positions us very well to take on the challenges that confront us now and in the future. OPEIU consists of 70,000 members who are organized to be powerful and resourceful. With our affiliation, we have access to their resources.

In August 2004, the CFW Board members attended the Washington State Labor Council (WSLC) convention, where president Rick Bender and other delegates warmly welcomed us. A hot topic of discussion included issues with L&I. Chiropractic and labor will fight together against the AWB/BIAW’s (the Association of Washington Business and the Building Industry Association of Washington) in an attempt to privatize L&I, which would put injured workers’ healthcare out to the lowest bidder. WSLC is in strong agreement for the inclusion of all chiropractors for the treatment of injured workers.

We are proud of our strong alliance with labor. Your membership is important in supporting our efforts to protect your economic health and the chiropractic profession. Click here to join now, or call (253) 839-8608.

As a member of CFW, you have access to OPEIU benefits. Benefits of OPEIU membership include mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, college scholarships, discounts on recreation and travel, health club memberships, wireless programs, and much more. Click here for more on OPEIU Member Benefits.

President's Message ~ 2004

This is a big election year with chiropractic on the line.  If candidates are elected who support  AWB (Association of Washington Business), the insurance industry, and the medical lobby, you will see big changes that will negatively affect your practice.  In addition, this will affect the rights of your patients and injured    workers.  I am proud to say that we have joined together with our friends in labor to defeat this kind of legislation this year as we did last year. 

CFW supported opposition to the anti-ergonomic initiative.  Our donations matched that of other like unions, such as SPEEA (Boeing engineers union).  We were right there with the largest professional union in the state.  We are earning respect from labor as a valuable professional guild.  With the counterbalance of the 500,000 member WSLC (Washington State Labor Council), we as chiropractors can stand up to the AWB, insurance, and medicine.  We need every chiropractor in the state to join CFW.  This will give us, and our patients, a strong voice in Olympia and protect our economic future.  So join today.

Insurance Industry Trying To Remove Chiropractic ~ 2004 Legislative Session
HB 2460, SB 5521, SB 6112

The insurance industry, with the backing of the Association of Washington Business (AWB), is pushing to cannibalize the Every Category Law, which allows patients to have choice of providers.  Their goal is to gut the insurance plans to the lowest common denominator, which would only include medical doctors.  We have fought long and hard to include    chiropractic in all coverage and for chiropractic coverage without a referral.  CFW and WSLC support patient choice of provider and chiropractic coverage for all without a referral.

"L&I Reform" Means Removing Chiropractic From L&I - 2004 Legislative Session

Senate Bill 6393 would allow L&I self-insured companies to use a managed care model.  This would radically limit the number of DCs who would be allowed to treat injured workers.   

Another deception of the Association of Washington Business this session is to create “centers of  excellence”. This is a feel-good way of saying dismantling L&I as we know it.  Their goal is to privatize L&I and put injured workers’ health care out for the lowest bid. The clinics would be run by private companies whose only goal is to keep costs down, which they would do by limiting access to the injured workers.  These “centers of excellence” would have an MD, PT, and, in the best case scenario, may hire a DC.  Workers would lose their choice of providers and DCs would lose the opportunity to treat their patients who are injured on the job.  This is not fair to the worker who pays a portion of the L&I premium out of their paycheck. 

CFW is supporting proposed legislation to regulate L&I self-insured companies. Self-insured companies are running amuck.  This legislation would add two to three investigators to the staff of L&I, whose job it would be to oversee self-insured companies. 

Right now, we have two standards: one follows the rules and statutes (i.e. the Department of L&I) and the other (self-insureds) get away with whatever they can.  We need to stop this unlawful behavior, but right now L&I does not have the staff to do this.  CFW and the WSLC will work to protect injured workers’ rights by recommending L&I add investigators to their budget.  

Tort Reform and Medical Malpractice
2004 Legislative Session ~ HB 2326

Tom Campbell, CFW President, fellow chiropractor, and Washington State Representative, sponsored this bill. This bill would reform the Uniform Disciplinary Act.  We are being told that MDs are being sued needlessly in frivolous lawsuits.  The truth is that it is not all about frivolous lawsuits, but it is about dangerous and incompetent medical doctors.  The same doctors injure people over and over again; 5% of doctors cause 50% of the injury claims.  The goal of this bill is to remove those 5% from practice. 

With regards to malpractice insurance premiums, we support legislation that would hold public hearings if the insurance carrier requests a 15% increase in the premium.  At these hearings, they would be required to demonstrate data as to why increases are necessary.  This has been done in California, and miraculously, the increases have stopped.  CFW and WSLC support protecting the public from medical negligence, awarding appropriate compensation for damages, and holding public hearings to justify premium increases.

President's Message ~ 2003

Dear Colleague,

I am writing to give you an update on our Chiropractic Guild and the issues that are currently being addressed.   We are fighting to maintain your livelihood and economic well-being in Olympia. 

The insurance industry and big business have once again set their sights on eliminating chiropractic care from all policies to “reduce the cost of insurance”. They have introduced legislation that repeals the “every category provider” law that has been fought over all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. They still refuse to look past the medical bias and see that chiropractic care is less expensive and more effective for the conditions that we care for — the truth has had little impact.

Injured workers are once again having their chiropractic claims attacked by the Department of Labor & Industries.  This is an attack we’ve seen before. The Department of L&I has been using a panel of medical orthopedists to evaluate injured workers, including those under chiropractic care, instead of utilizing Department of Labor & Industries-approved chiropractic consult doctors. 

A dangerous threat has emerged which will affect all health care providers. The problem is the sharp escalation of medical malpractice premiums. The insurance industry has convinced the MDs that attorneys and high jury awards have caused this sharp rise.  The insurance industry plans to control the problem by capping non-economic damages at $250,000. This may seem reasonable at first glance, but in reality, it makes someone whose life was ended by incompetence or negligence worth a maximum of $250,000.  This will be a sharp deterrent to legal access and redress for injured people in our society — not just death cases. It is obvious that this whole package is a Trojan horse designed to dupe the legislature and the public to support general tort reform.  The immediate result is that many cases will not be picked up by attorneys due to capped recoveries; therefore, without legal representation, third party personal injury cases will likely not seek needed care, including chiropractic. This will have serious repercussions in all of our practices and for our families.

The problems we faced last year were highlighted by the “small business insurance bill”. This bill was yet another attempt to strip 30-plus years of work in protecting the consumer from insurance company abuse. The bill would have removed all mandated care, including chiropractic and "every category provider” from the current law. The proposal would have provided a reduced-cost insurance plan, but with no benefits unless you were in dire circumstances. We were able to kill this bill at the last minute by requesting the Washington State Labor Council’s assistance — without them, I believe this bill would have left the House and might be law today.

We have been active in pursuing our labor alliance over the last year, which was our first year since receiving our charter from OPEIU (our national union affiliation). I attended the Council On Political Education (COPE) nominating convention to be a part of the process in endorsing candidates for public office.  Membership in this organization gives our delegates weighted votes in this critical process. The fact that chiropractors were there and participating was important and spreads the word that we have “union chiropractors”.  It will be an evolving process for Washington State union members to do business with you as a union brother/sister. We also attended the annual summer labor convention in Spokane.  For the good of all working people in our state, it was very important to be there as CFW union delegates to discuss problems and offer resolutions.

The CFW board has voted to affiliate at the local level, starting with the King, Pierce and Spokane labor councils. This action will open further channels between CFW members and other union members in your community.  We will be placing advertisements in local union publications throughout the state to strengthen our union bonds, and to give union members access to union chiropractic care.

We have also selected a CFW Health Plan that is now available to all members, members’ families, and their office staff. This is a member-only benefit that you should take a look at, and yes, it covers chiropractic care. The CFW Health Plan is offered at an affordable, competitive group rate, versus the more expensive individual rate.

CFW does not conduct education classes, social events, or other things that the other chiropractic organizations already do. We are a part of organized labor, working with others with the same determination to maintain our livelihood and make this state a better place for our families.  We are all about advancing your ECONOMIC well-being.   I believe our union affiliation has already proven its worth and will help keep chiropractic strong and balance the power of business that is poised to harm us and our patients.

As you can see, we face many serious challenges ahead.   We need you to renew your dues and sign up now if you are not a current member of our Guild. The cost is only $225.00 per fiscal year. It is low for a good reason; we have no staff and little overhead.   We pay half of the total per year for dues at the state and national levels. The rest is for communicating with you, such as through newsletters and our website.   This is money well spent, no frills, and no fat. We are a LABOR organization; no PAC or professional association can do what we do. For your own security and well-being, send in your check and application today. Take a close look at our website for the member benefits and other news. We have much to accomplish, and with your support, chiropractic will be strong, and our patients will always have the choice of chiropractic healthcare.

Chiropractic Federation of Washington (CFW) Gains Momentum
From WSCA Plexus, Jan/Feb02 Issue
By Rep. Tom Campbell, DC, Founder CFW

Many of you have expressed interest in our newly formed chiropractic guild, the Chiropractic Federation of Washington, or CFW. Our membership is building across the state. The CFW is a professional guild, representing chiropractors exclusively. We are the union-affiliated representative for chiropractors in the state of Washington, and partner with WSCA (our association) and the Washington Chiropractic Trust (our political action committee). Together we are committed to patients’ rights to choose chiropractic healthcare.

We now have a website: www.cfw10.org, which addresses many of your questions. For answers about how we are affiliated with organized labor, check out the About Us page on the site. We are members of the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU). Look at the sidebar on the website’s About Us page for our current list of benefits through the OPEIU. We are now working on health care benefits for CFW members.

The CFW plans to advertise in labor publications to inform union members that there are now chiropractors to patronize. Within organized labor, members are encouraged to support union shops. Guess what? As a member of CFW, your office would be listed as a union shop. There are 800,000 union members in Washington alone, And if that’s not good enough, they also have families.

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