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 [...]
Continue reading...29. June 2010
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 [...]
Continue reading...29. June 2010
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 [...]
Continue reading...24. June 2010
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 [...]
Continue reading...21. June 2010
Over the past week, you may have seen news reports suggesting that health care reform is in serious jeopardy. WE MUST INSIST THAT CONGRESS COMPLETE HEALTH CARE REFORM NOW! Too many Americans with disabilities and chronic conditions are not well served by the current system and will make tremendous gains through enactment of health care reform. Take [...]
Continue reading...17. June 2010
This week, BIAA joined Congressman John Adler in support of a bill that would ensure a method be in place when applying for Federal or Private student loans to designate who will make decisions on your behalf regarding all medical, financial, and legal matters in the event you are catastrophically ill, catastrophically injured, temporarily disabled, [...]
Continue reading...11. June 2010
Traditionally, it has been accepted that hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) at the acute stage of traumatic brain injury is associated with increased mortality and poor outcome. It has also, however, been shown that insulin therapy to reduce this hyperglycemia can induce hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), which is also associated with poor outcome. Researchers recently completed an [...]
Continue reading...4. June 2010
A recent retrospective study of cognitive assessment in traumatic brain injury patients found no clear pattern of cognitive ability associated with neurological impairment. Cognitive assessment—in the form of tests such as the WAIS (in various versions) or the HRB (Halstead-Reitan Neurological Test Battery)—is often administered early to traumatic brain injury patients in order to determine cognitive [...]
Continue reading...4. June 2010
Electroacupuncture, which delivers electrical stimulation through acupuncture needles, has long been used for pain relief and stroke rehabilitation. A recent animal study has found evidence that electroacupuncture may also stimulate neuroprotective function after cerebral ischemia (lowered blood flow to the brain). The researchers found that acupuncture administered to the “Bai hui” and “ Da zhui” acupoints [...]
Continue reading...1. June 2010
The area of the brain associated with attention is the frontal lobe, which means that many survivors of traumatic brain injury will experience attention deficits. Attention is important for wide range of self-management—for instance focus, processing speed, or multi-tasking. Attention deficits can therefore slow down rehabilitation efforts and recovery because of the patient’s inability to [...]
Continue reading...
29. June 2010
0 Comments