Brain Injury Blog | Traumatic Brain Injury TBI

Reflecting one of BIAA’s biggest public policy accomplishments this year, a group of Senators issued a letter on August 4, 2008 to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urging official TRICARE coverage of cognitive rehabilitation.The group of 10 United States Senators, led by Evan Bayh (D-IN) and Barack Obama (D-IL), sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates calling on him to enact official coverage of cognitive rehabilitation within the military’s TRICARE health insurance program.  Several major media outlets covered this story, and the press release announcing this letter included a quote from Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama in which he described cognitive rehabilitation therapy as “one of the most accepted treatments for TBI.”

Throughout the summer, BIAA worked closely with Senator Bayh’s office to support the development of this letter and to urge the support of 10 highly esteemed Senators who signed on in support of this important effort to increase access to timely, state-of-the-art care for returning servicemembers with traumatic brain injury.

A copy of the letter, along with talking points in support of TRICARE coverage of cognitive rehabilitation, and a summary of evidence attesting the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation, is available on BIAA’s website at http://www.biausa.org/policyissues.htm.

In another promising development, the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force is currently working on a similar effort on the House side.

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