Monthly Archives: March 2010
Health Care Reform Update
This week, Congress continued to push forward towards the goal of completing health care reform. Congressional Democratic leaders are attempting to move forward using the simple majority process known as “reconciliation” and are expected to release a package of amendments that would first move through the House Budget and Rules Committee before coming to the House floor for a vote. However, many House members are hesitant to vote on the package before gaining assurance from the Senate that they will also pass the package.
Brain Injury Awareness Day 2010
Don’t forget that this year’s Brain Injury Awareness Day on Capitol Hill is set to take place on March, 17, 2010. For those of you who are participating and have made appointments to speak with your members of Congress, there will be a “home base” set up on the 4th floor of the Rayburn Building (rm. 2456) between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm for you to congregate between appointments and also to pick up any materials you may need. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Sarah D’Orsie, sdorsie@biausa.org, BIAA’s Director of Government Affairs.
Call Your Representative NOW – The House will Vote on Health Care Reform this Week!
The House of Representatives is set to vote on the Senate health care reform bill at the end of this week. If the measure fails, the hope of health care reform will likely vanish for this year and maybe even for years to come.
Even though the House and Senate have both passed their versions of health care reform, the only way forward for the bill is for the House to approve the Senate version.
Health Care Reform Update
On March 21, 2010 the House of Representatives passed a historic health care overhaul package that marks one of the biggest victories in the history of the Brain Injury Association and for people affected by brain injury across the country. BIAA advocated tirelessly for more than a year to ensure that people with brain injury gain access to the care that they need. Specifically, the measure:
Coverage
- Prohibits private health insurance exclusions for pre-existing conditions.
- Eliminates annual and lifetime caps in private insurance policies.
- Restricts the consideration of health status in setting premiums.
Benefits
- Ensures that minimum covered benefits include products and services that enable people with disabilities to maintain and improve function, such as rehabilitation and habilitation services and devices. BIAA, supported by our Business and Professional Council and assisted by Powers, Pyles, Sutter & Verville, PC was the driving force in ensuring that rehabilitation was listed as a minimum benefit in this bill. Originally, when the bill was made public, rehabilitation was not listed as a minimum benefit.
Long Term Services and Supports
- The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act creates a national long term services insurance program which assists eligible individuals and their families to meet long term needs with a cash benefit and without forcing them into poverty to receive Medicaid benefits.
- The Community First Choice Option helps to eliminate the institutional bias by encouraging states to cover personal attendant services under the state’s optional service plan instead of through the waiver system by offering a 6% increase in the federal share of Medicaid for these services.
It is also important to note that, as part of the debate, Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr., co-chairman of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force submitted a statement for the record detailing his understanding of the intent of the bill with regards to coverage of the treatment continuum for people with brain injury. BIAA thanks him for his hard work and dedication to this important issue.
Along with passing the Senate bill, House Democrats also approved a reconciliation bill that reflects negotiations reached by congressional Democrats and the White House to modify the version earlier passed by the Senate. This would be a “fix” that would eliminate the special deals given to certain states in return for their votes as the bill was passed by the Senate in December. On Thursday, March 25, 2010, both the Senate and the House had voted in favor of passing the corrections bill completing the package.
BIAA would like to recognize the grassroots advocates that have truly made a difference in advocating for this historic legislation. Thank you to everyone that invested so much of their time to push this forward!
Hormone problems after traumatic brain injury
Hormonal problems caused by damage to the pituitary gland are considered common in traumatic brain injury. However, reports of rates of pituitary gland impairment after traumatic brain injury have varied from 15-90%. Researchers from the Netherlands recently suggested that this variation could be due to differences in diagnostic criteria, in the type of tests given, in the severity of the injury, or even in the time of day the test is given. They reviewed data from 931 patients to determine what exactly created such discrepancies.
Hearing loss prevalent in traumatic head injury
Hearing loss in head injury poses a difficult problem—patients are sometimes unaware of their hearing problems because of cognitive impairment, and others may mistake their hearing loss as a memory or communication problem. It has long been known that hearing loss is common in head injury, and yet it is not always properly diagnosed.
A concussion is a brain injury
SPORTS & CONCUSSIONS
What is a Concussion?
Concussions are a type of traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused by a blow or jolt to the head. The injury can range from mild to severe and can disrupt the way the brain normally works.
Mitochondrial dysfunction involved in age-related decline in traumatic brain injury
Older age has been known to be a negative factor in recovery after traumatic brain injury. While there are several factors that may be involved in this association, such as pre-existing conditions or multiple medications that negatively impact the injury, a cellular explanation has also been proposed.
Trends of spinal injury and spinal cord injury of the last twenty years.
Long-term studies of specific injuries, their interventions, and their outcomes help to help to identify trends, recognize potential therapeutic problems, and direct future guidelines of care. Such a study was recently conducted in Canada in order to determine the characteristics, trends, and potential predictors of spinal trauma and its associated injuries.
Blood alcohol levels in severe traumatic brain injury
The association of a positive blood alcohol level (BAL) and the outcome of traumatic brain injury has recently become a controversial one. Different clinical studies have shown both positive and negative outcomes of brain injury when a positive BAL is present. Although alcohol intoxication increases the risk of brain injury, disability, and mortality, there is some evidence that, in some cases, a positive BAL may contribute to positive outcomes after the injury. Some studies have reported neuroprotective effects of low or moderate levels of alcohol.
