During the August recess, as a follow up to a meeting held on June 15, 2010, representatives from HRSA and various TBI stakeholders held a teleconference to plan work on a long-term plan for the Federal TBI Program and also to discuss possible changes to the TBI Act come reauthorization in 2012.

HRSA, BIAA and the National Association of State Head Injury Administrators (NASHIA) have begun to assemble an advisory board to work on the long-term plan and to also manage and incorporate public comment and transparency. BIAA is encouraged by the partnership forged between TBI stakeholders and HRSA and is looking forward to elevating the Federal TBI Program within HRSA and to advocating for increased funding for the program by leveraging agency cooperation in program improvement and efficiency on Capitol Hill.

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.

This morning President Obama released his FY 2011 budget. Last week, the State of the Union address warned of spending freezes and tough decisions on what programs to keep and what programs to discontinue in the coming year.

BIAA is pleased to announce that the HRSA state grant program, authorized by the TBI Act, has been level funded in the President’s budget.

Although the appropriations process for 2011 is far from over, we are off to a good start. BIAA would like to make a push for increased appropriations for this program at the 2010 Brain Injury Awareness Day on March 17th on Capitol Hill. Please contact Sarah D’Orsie, Director of Government Affairs, BIAA at sdorsie@biausa.org if you are planning to attend.

This week BIAA submitted written testimony to the House Appropriations Subcommittee in charge of funding TBI programs within the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Education. BIAA’s testimony urges an increase in Fiscal Year 2009 funding for programs authorized through the TBI Act, as well as for TBI research programs conducted within the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

In the testimony, BIAA’s President and CEO Susan H. Connors states, “BIAA was gravely disappointed that last year, even as Congress had the good judgment to add hundreds of millions dollars to the budgets of the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to help address the problem of TBI among returning servicemembers, funding for the HRSA Federal TBI Program was reduced from $8.91 million to $8.754 million.”

Within the testimony, BIAA requests $30 million in funding for programs authorized through the TBI Act, as well as sufficient funding to sustain and increase medical rehabilitation research within NIDRR. The testimony also urges an allocation of at least $8.3 million to allow NIDRR to continue to fund 16 TBI Model Systems research centers.A copy of the testimony can be obtained by visiting BIAA’s website at the following address: http://www.biausa.org/policyissues.htm.