In the Matter of The Wisconsin Chiropractic Association

Appendix A

[Wisconsin Chiropractic Association Letterhead]

Dear Officer, Director, Agent, Representative, Employee, Member or Third Party Payer:

The Wisconsin Chiropractic Association ("WCA") and its executive director, Russell A. Leonard, have entered into an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission to settle charges that the WCA, acting through its executive director, violated the antitrust laws by, among other things, conspiring with at least some of the WCA's members and others to fix or to increase prices paid for chiropractic manipulation services and to boycott third-party payers to raise reimbursement rates for chiropractic manipulation services. As part of the settlement agreement, the WCA is required to send this notification letter and a copy of the complaint and order to each of its officers and directors, its agents, representatives, and employees who have responsibilities with respect to the subject matter of the order, its members, and third-party payers.

Under the terms of the order, the WCA and Russell A. Leonard are prohibited from:

Fixing prices or encouraging others to fix prices for any chiropractic good or service (or, in the case of Mr. Leonard, any health care goods or services);
Creating, suggesting, or endorsing any list or schedule of fees to be charged for any health care good or service;
Organizing, participating in, or enforcing any agreement (1) to negotiate on behalf of any chiropractor or group of chiropractors (or, in the case of Mr. Leonard, any health care provider or group of health care providers) regarding any term, condition, or requirement of dealing with any payer or provider; or (2) to deal or refuse to deal with, boycott or threaten to boycott, any payer or provider;
Advising, recommending, advocating, or attempting to persuade in any way any chiropractor (or, in the case of Mr. Leonard, any health care provider) to accept or not accept any aspect, term or condition of any existing or proposed participation agreement;
Soliciting or communicating any chiropractor's (or, in the case of Mr. Leonard, any health care provider's) views, decisions or intentions concerning any participation agreement;
Organizing, sponsoring, facilitating or participating in any meeting or discussion that the WCA or Mr. Leonard expects or reasonably should expect will facilitate communications concerning any chiropractor's intentions pertaining to any participation agreement;
Conducting or distributing any fee survey for any health care good or service for a period of two (2) years after the date the order becomes final, or before December 31, 2001, whichever is earlier. For an additional five (5) year period thereafter, the WCA and Mr. Leonard are permitted to conduct and distribute fee surveys, provided that (a) the data collection and analysis are managed by a third party; (b) the raw fee survey data is retained by the third party and not made available to the WCA or Mr. Leonard; (c) any information that is shared among or is available to providers is more than three months old; and (d) there are at least five providers reporting data upon which each disseminated statistic is based, no individual provider's data represents more than 25 percent on a weighted basis of that statistic, and any information disseminated is sufficiently aggregated that it would not allow respondents or any other recipients to identify the prices charged or compensation paid by any particular provider; and
Encouraging or assisting any person to take any action that, if taken by the WCA or Mr. Leonard, would violate the order.

In addition, the WCA is required, under the terms of the order, to maintain better records, including, but not limited to, retaining copies of all materials distributed at WCA meetings and seminars. The WCA must also maintain a copy of each fee survey distributed to any WCA member, along with a record of its distribution. Finally, the WCA is required to maintain a copy of each other document relating to any subject that is covered by any provision of the order, along with a record of its distribution.

Nothing in the order prohibits either the WCA or Mr. Leonard from petitioning any federal or state government executive agency or legislative body concerning legislation, rules, or procedures, or from participating in any federal or state administrative or judicial proceeding, in so far as such activity is protected by the Noerr-Pennington doctrine. In addition, the order does not prohibit Mr. Leonard, acting as an agent, employee or representative exclusively for a single provider or payer, from providing comments or advice on any matter to such single provider or payer, or from determining or negotiating any terms, conditions, or requirements, including prices to be paid for any health care goods or services, upon which such single provider or payer will deal with any person.

Copies of the complaint and order are enclosed.

/s/
Michael McMahon, D.C.
President
Wisconsin Chiropractic Association