Monthly Archives: June 2010
CDC Forms Disability and Health Work Group
Largely due to the advocacy of the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Coalition (DRRC), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced that they will form the first Disability and Health Work Group to advance the health of people with disabilities. With cross-agency representation, the work group will focus on incorporating disability status into CDC surveys, showcasing best practices, and ensuring relevant issues for people with disabilities are reflected in CDC programs and policies.
BIAA is pleased that these issues will be elevated within the CDC and will offer any assistance needed to further the group’s efforts.
Appropriations Update
With House Appropriations Committee consideration of the FY2011 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies around the corner, BIAA is working diligently to secure funding for programs authorized through the TBI Act, as well as for NIDRR’s TBI Model Systems of Care.
Specifically, BIAA and other TBI stakeholders recommend:
- $10 million (+ $4 million) for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention TBI Registries and Surveillance, Brain Injury Acute Care Guidelines, Prevention and National Public Education/Awareness
- $8 million (+ $1 million) for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Federal TBI State Grant Program
- $4 million (+ $1 million) for the HRSA Federal TBI Protection & Advocacy (P&A) Systems Grant Program
- $11 million (+1.5 million) for NIDRR’s TBI Model Systems of care for one new collaborative research project
Based on the requests of the stakeholders, The Congressional Brain Injury Task Force submitted a letter to the House Appropriations Committee on March 12, 2010 to encourage the funding increases necessary to sustain and bolster important research and improve state TBI services and supports.
Also, to supplement the meetings that BIAA and other stakeholders participated in with Appropriations Committee staff in both the House and the Senate, BIAA and NASHIA also facilitated an organizational letter to both appropriations committees with over 70 signers to show nationwide support for this essential funding.
Finally, BIAA submitted official testimony to both the House and the Senate Appropriations Committees to further cement our position.
As the appropriations process moves forward, BIAA will monitor the situation closely and alert grassroots advocates if action is necessary.
House of Representatives Passed a Historic Health Care Overhaul Package
Dear Advocates,
As many of you know, the House of Representatives passed a historic health care overhaul package late Sunday 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 insurance limits or “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 brain injury to maintain and improve function, such as rehabilitation and habilitative services and devices. BIAA, along with 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 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 Senate votes as the bill was passed by the Senate in December.
The Senate is expected to take up the bill as early as Tuesday under special budget reconciliation rules that will shield it from filibusters. BIAA will continue to monitor the situation closely as consideration concludes.
Finally, BIAA would like to recognize the grassroots advocates that have truly made a difference in advocating for this historic legislation. Thank you to everyone who invested so much of their time to push this forward!
FY2011 Defense Authorization Act
This year’s House version of the FY2011 Defense Authorization Act (HR 5136) will go to conference with two amendments addressing the problem of faulty brain injury screening in which the military has been under fire because of in recent reports.
Congresswoman Mary Fallin of Oklahoma offered an amendment to the bill that was adopted stating that no later than September 30, 2011, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, shall develop and implement a comprehensive policy on pre- and post-deployment neurocognitive assessment.
Also, assisted by BIAA and NASHIA, Congressman Bill Pascrell, Jr., co-chairman of the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force, offered a complimentary amendment that was later adopted detailing that until a comprehensive screening policy is implemented, the Defense Department must use the same cognitive screening tool for both pre-deployment and post-deployment screening in order to compare new data to previous baseline data for the purposes of detecting brain injury.
BIAA is hopeful that these provisions will remain in the bill as conference discussions continue. We will monitor the situation closely and alert grassroots advocates if any action becomes necessary.
Tell your Senators to Extend Extra Medicaid Funding Through June 2011!
It is important that all grassroots advocates unite to support the extension of the current elevated Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage (FMAP) that is currently being debated in the Senate and will be very important to states come the end of this year!
Originally, both the House and the Senate acted to extend the extra match through June 2011, the end of the fiscal year for states. However, the offsets that were supposed to pay for this extension went instead to help pay for the health care reform legislation. Without an extension, the money will run out Dec. 31, 2010, and many states will be forced to make drastic cuts to the federal-state program. The 2009 federal stimulus package provided $87 billion to increase the federal share of the program through December (it included a 6.2% increase of the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) under Medicaid). Last week, House Democrats debated HR 4213, the vehicle for this extension and chose to remove the provision extending extra federal Medicaid funding. With states in fiscal peril due to the recession and unemployment, it is vital that the extra federal funding continues in order to keep health care accessible for many brain injury patients and caregivers!
Click here to view the Action Alert and take action
Health Care Reform Update
Last week, the Health and Human Services (HHS) department asked for public comments regarding their draft strategic framework on multiple chronic conditions (MCC). The framework addresses approaches to improving the health of individuals with concurrent MCC by providing options for HHS to strengthen coordination of its efforts internally and collaboration with stakeholders externally.
BIAA submitted a document detailing the concern that the draft framework does not include TBI in the list of conditions that constitute concurrent multiple chronic conditions. BIAA argued that because brain injury has been linked to epilepsy, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease and that individuals with brain injury manifest neurologic, neuroendocrine and psychiatric disorders as well as cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, gastrointestinal, urologic and sexual dysfunction it absolutely should be addressed in the framework.
BIAA will continue to advocate for its inclusion and will update grassroots advocates on our progress.
FMAP Update
Last week, Senate Democrats came four votes short of invoking cloture on the tax extenders bill that includes the extension of increased federal Medicaid monies through June, 2011. After passing a Medicare physicians’ payment bill on its own instead of as a part of the larger extender package, Senator Max Baucus is encouraged that the larger bill still has the support and momentum needed for approval. The bill is expected to be considered in the Senate this week.
BIAA will continue to monitor the situation closely. If you haven’t taken action on this alert, it’s not too late!
Federal TBI Program Update
On June 15, 2010, BIAA and other TBI stakeholders met with Mary Wakefield, the Administrator of Health and Human Service’s (HHS) Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to discuss the future of the federal TBI program, one of the programs funded through the TBI Act. The federal TBI program provides grants to states to improve access to care for people with brain injury.
The meeting was very positive and both the TBI stakeholders and HRSA are committed to working together to bring the attention needed to the program in order to grow the program and receive more funding for the TBI population in each state. HRSA has committed to working with stakeholders going forward to craft a strategic plan for the program and solicit public comment from appropriate entities such as BIAA state affiliates and state lead agencies in order to ensure that elevation of the program is successful.
BIAA is encouraged by the partnership forged between TBI stakeholders and HRSA and will continue to pass on important information as efforts progress.
Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage (FMAP) Update
On Thursday, June 24, 2010, Senate Democrats’ long effort to pass a package of tax cut extensions collapsed stopping the proposed extension of enhanced federal Medicaid funding to states in its tracks amid worries of the increased federal deficit. Without the extension, the elevated federal Medicaid funding will expire on December 31, 2010, halfway through the fiscal year for states.
BIAA has advocated vigorously to ensure that this increased funding would be extended through June 2011, and we will continue to fight to pass this legislation.
National Intrepid Center of Excellence
This week, the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), a privately-funded medical facility designed to treat service members suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and psychological health conditions, opened its doors at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The 72,000-square-foot facility will provide rehabilitation care to military patients and veterans with mild to moderate brain injuries.
BIAA is encouraged by the support for the facility and will lend a hand in any way we can to ensure its success!
Thank Dateline NBC for Bringing Attention to Brain Injury Challenges
Health care reform at the federal level is officially on hold. Republican Scott Brown gained the Massachusetts seat vacated by the death of Edward Kennedy, thereby breaking the 60-vote majority in the Senate. Democrats met privately in the days following the Massachusetts special election but were unable to cultivate a strategy for moving forward at this time. A six‐week break is planned, and it is likely policymakers will be forced to accept a substantially scaled‐back package or abandon health care reform altogether.
The Brain Injury Association of America is deeply disappointed. Through our partnership with the Brain Injury Business & Professional Council, we made important gains in the proposed legislation. We cannot forgo this progress; we cannot quit now. We will continue to fight for access to the full continuum of brain injury treatment.
On January 24, 2010, Dateline NBC aired the compelling story of Patrick Gannon, a man who battled a severe anoxic brain injury and was then forced to wage war against his insurance company. The Dateline story accurately portrays how the health care system victimizes patients and families when they are most vulnerable.
I urge brain injury advocates everywhere to watch Patrick’s story and then write to Ann Curry, Dateline correspondent, to thank her for bringing national attention to the extraordinary challenges individuals with brain injury and their families face. I urge advocates to share their own stories with Ms. Curry and ask that she continue to educate the public about the rehabilitation needs of people with brain injury after their lives have been saved. Please address your letters to:
Ms. Ann Curry
Dateline / NBC News
30 Rockefeller Center, Studio 3B
New York, NY 10012
E-mail: Dateline@NBCUNI.com
Once you’ve written your letter (and sent copies to your legislators and BIAA), I ask that you share the Dateline story with friends and neighbors and that you encourage them to spread the story to others. With your help, we can tell the public that a brain injury can happen to anyone at anytime and that having insurance doesn’t mean you’re covered!
Very truly yours,
Susan H. Connors
President/CEO
Please send copies of your letters to your state and federal legislators and to me at BIAA’s address!
Brain Injury Association of America
1608 Spring Hill Road, Suite 110
Vienna, VA 22182
