Medicare does not limit the number of chiropractic visits covered, but only medically necessary spinal manipulation to correct subluxations is covered. It won’t cover regular maintenance or preventive chiropractic visits or chiropractic treatments to other parts of the body.
Medicare will cover the cost of a physician-ordered X-ray that’s needed to validate that a spinal subluxation requires treatment, not any X-ray that a chiropractor orders. That’s a key difference to be aware of.
Medicare will not provide coverage for those services if a chiropractor orders, takes or interprets an X-ray or another diagnostic test.
In addition, Medicare doesn’t cover other services or tests that a chiropractor orders, such as massage therapy and acupuncture — unless the acupuncture is for treatment of chronic low back pain.