Brain Injury Blog | Traumatic Brain Injury TBI

On Thursday, July 23, 2009, the Senate passed its version of the FY10 National Defense Authorization Act. During debate, Senator John McCain for Senator Graham offered an amendment that authorizes the Secretary of Defense to carry out a pilot program for providing cognitive rehabilitation therapy services under TRICARE. Both BIAA and the Wounded Warrior Project have worked tirelessly to advocate for the inclusion of this amendment. To view the amendment, click on the link below:

http://www.biausa.org/elements/policy/2009/ndaa_cognitive%20_rehabilitation_amendment_2009.pdf

The amendment requires the Department of Defense to consult the Department of Veterans Affairs, The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and relevant national organizations with experience in treating traumatic brain injury. It also requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to congress evaluating the effectiveness of the program and making recommendations of the appropriateness of including cognitive rehabilitation as a benefit under the TRICARE program.

In response to the adoption by unanimous consent of this amendment into S. 1390, a representative from the Congressional Budget Office reached out to BIAA to ask advice regarding the cost and duration of cognitive rehabilitation therapy in order to formulate a cost estimate for the pilot program. BIAA authored the following comments in response:

http://www.biausa.org/elements/policy/2009/cbo_request_july_09_cog_rehab.pdf

Currently, the Senate is gearing up for a conference with the House to agree on final language. The informal process began this week even though house conferees have yet to be named. With hope that finalization will happen in early September, be on the lookout for BIAA action alerts to urge congress to retain this important amendment as part of the final package.

In conclusion, BIAA is thrilled to have the opportunity to work on this important inclusion in S. 1390 and believes that this is a much needed step forward in providing access to brain injury care for returning service members.