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Public Policy Priorities for 2009

Healthcare Reform Fact Sheet (pdf)
Access to Care Fact Sheet (pdf)
TBI Act Fact Sheet (pdf)
Research Fact Sheet (pdf)
Military Fact Sheet (pdf)
Congressional Brain Injury Task Force Fact Sheet (pdf)

Advocacy for Cognitive Rehabilitation

CBITF NDAA Cognitive Rehabilitation Letter 2009 (pdf)
NDAA Cognitive Rehabilitation Amendment (pdf)
NDAA CBO Request July 2009 (pdf)
Cognitive Rehabilitation Press Statement (6/9/09) (pdf)
President Obama Letter - Cognitive Rehabilitation (6/9/09) (pdf)
Anthem Cognitive Rehabilitation Policy (word)
United Health Care Cognitive Rehabilitation Policy Announcement (pdf)
Announcement of Letter to Secretary Gates
Bayh/Obama Letter to Secretary Gates
House letter to Sec. Gates
TRICARE Coverage for Cognitive Rehabilitation - Talking Points
Summary of Evidence for Cognitive Rehabilitation
Position Statement - Cognitive Rehabilitation: The Evidence, Funding and Case for Advocacy

Health Care Reform Library

Position Paper (pdf)
Health Reform One Page (pdf)
Health Care Pledge (pdf)
Dear Colleague Letter (doc)
Healthy Americans Act (pdf)
Senate Finance Committee: Transforming the Health Care Delivery System (pdf)
BIAA Response to Delivery System Recommendations (pdf)
TBI Challenge Spring 2009 issue (pdf)
Senate Finance Committee’s options paper on coverage (pdf)
BIAA’s Response to the Finance Committees Paper on Coverage (pdf)
Senate HELP Committee Discussion Draft (pdf)
House Tricommittee Discussion Draft (pdf)
BIAA House Tricommittee Health Reform Comments (pdf)
CCD Health Care Reform Senate Letter (pdf)
House CR Statement (pdf)
Reid Letter 11/08/09 (pdf)
Senate timeline (pdf)
Senate Sub Amendment (pdf)
Senate Short Summary (pdf)
Senate Sectional (pdf)
Senate Immediate Benefits (pdf)

Constituent Comments:

Don't pull the trigger on a viable and fully available public health care option (word)

Research

BIAA Comments to NIDRR RRTC/RERC Proposed Priorities (pdf)
Legacy Institute Brain Donor Registry Press Release (pdf)

FY10 Appropriations

TBI Act FY10 Appropriations Stakeholder Support Letter (pdf)
BIAA Testimony to Senate Appropriations Committee (doc)
BIAA Testimony to House Appropriations Committee (doc)

Election 2008

PPSV Memo on 2008 Election Outcomes and Legislative Impact :  Powers Pyles Sutter &Verville, PC has produced a memorandum which reviews the 2008 Presidential and Congressional elections and provides analysis of the future direction of White House policy and the ramifications for the near-term political makeup of the House and Senate and relevant congressional committees.

Brain Injury Association of America Applauds TBI Act Reauthorization

Click here to read our press release!

Public Policy Priorities for 2008

BIAA Endorses H.R. 3195, The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (pdf) BIAA has written and distributed a letter in support of H.R. 3195, The ADA Amendments Act of 2008, to all Members of the United States House of Representatives.  BIAA strongly supports swift passage of this important bill, which would strengthen ADA protections for individuals with disabilities, including individuals with brain injury.

BIAA Submits Statement for the Record on S. 2921 at Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Hearing  (pdf) On Wednesday, May 21, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee held a hearing on pending health care legislation, including S. 2921, The Caring for Wounded Warriors Act, which BIAA has strongly endorsed.  BIAA submitted a Statement for the Record for the hearing urging the Committee to swiftly approve the bill, which would strengthen supports for family caregivers of returning servicemembers with TBI.

BIAA Makes Argument for TRICARE Coverage of Cognitive Rehabilitation(pdf)  BIAA recently distributed an issue brief to Capitol Hill staff  highlighting the need for TRICARE to officially cover cognitive rehabilitation.  The information paper was accompanied by a summary of the research supporting the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation in treating brain injury. (pdf)

BIAA Submits Comments on NIDRR’s Long-Range Plan for Fiscal Years 2010-2014(pdf) On May 22, 2008, BIAA submitted official comments to the Department of Education on the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research’s Proposed Long-Range Plan for Fiscal Years 2010-2014.  BIAA’s comments were based on a coalition letter which BIAA signed on to as well, but also included BIAA’s individual recommendations for future research priorities.

BIAA Submits Written Testimony to Senate Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee (pdf)  BIAA recently submitted written testimony to the Senate 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 funding in Fiscal Year 2009 for programs authorized through the TBI Act, as well as TBI research programs conducted within the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

Organizational Sign-On Letter to House In Support of FY09 TBI Appropriations:  BIAA played a leading role in drafting an organizational sign-on letter in support of FY09 TBI appropriations.  The letter, which was signed by over 25 organizations - including several veterans organizations - was recently delivered to both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

Organizational Sign-On Letter to Senate In Support of FY09 TBI Appropriations:  BIAA played a leading role in drafting an organizational sign-on letter in support of FY09 TBI appropriations.  The letter, which was signed by over 25 organizations - including several veterans organizations - was recently delivered to both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.

BIAA Endorses H.R. 5613 to Curb Harmful Medicaid Regulations

BIAA Endorses H.R. 2818 to Create VA Epilepsy Centers of Excellence

BIAA Submits Written Testimony to House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee (pdf)  BIAA recently 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 funding in Fiscal Year 2009 for programs authorized through the TBI Act, as well as TBI research programs conducted within the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR).

BIAA Endorses Mental Health Parity Legislation (pdf) The Brain Injury Association of America has enthusiastically endorsed H.R. 1424, mental health parity legislation which would require health insurers to offer mental health benefits equal in cost and scope to medical and surgical benefits.

BIAA Press Release: FY09 Budget (pdf) Brain Injury Association of America Condemns President’s Fiscal 2009 Budget.

BIAA VA Regs Comment Letter (pdf) Comments from the Brain Injury Association of America on RIN 2900-AM75-“Schedule for Rating Disabilities; Evaluation of Residuals of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).”

2008 Advocacy Fact Sheets

2008 TBI Invisible Injury Department of Education (pdf)
2008 TBI Invisible Injury Department of Defense (pdf)
2008 TBI Invisible Injury Department of Health and Human Services (pdf)

Public Policy Priorities for 2006-2007

Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act

On October 1, 2007, the Senate passed its version of the defense authorization bill, including the text of the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act, which contains critically important provisions to improve TBI care for returning service members.  The House of Representatives passed its defense authorization bill, which does not contain these critical TBI provisions, in May.  Conferees have now been appointed, as the House and Senate will work in conference to produce a final version of the legislation to send to President Bush.

BIAA has been actively lobbying to urge conferees to retain the Senate’s Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act provisions in the final defense authorization conference report, and has recently issued an Action Alert urging swift consideration of the defense authorization bill by the House and Senate.”

Letter to Congressional Leaders Urging Swift Consideration of the Defense Authorization Bill. (Word)
CBITF Letter (PDF)
TBI Provisions in the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act (Word)

Medicaid Rehabilitative Services Option

The Brain Injury Association of America has submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) expressing opposition to the recent Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) that would cut an $2.2 billion from Medicaid over five years by restricting access to services provided under the Medicaid Rehabilitative Services Option.  The Medicaid Rehabilitative Services Option is used to support community-based rehabilitation services and is a valuable mechanism for helping many individuals with traumatic brain injury regain and/or maintain their maximum level of independent function.

BIAA Comments on the Medicaid Rehabilitative Services Option

Heroes at Home Legislation

On March 29, 2007 Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) introduced the Heroes At Home Act of 2007, a series of initiatives to improve services and support for Armed Forces personnel with TBI and their families.  Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) is an original co-sponsor. BIAA Honorary Spokesperson Lee Woodruff and President/CEO Susan Connors were among the invited speakers at the press event. Together they emphasized the need for public/private cooperation in the provision of post-acute care and called for increased family caregiver training and support. To view the press release conference, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKbHwJFJd0w
 
BIAA proudly endorses the Heroes at Home Act of 2007 as a critical step forward in meeting needs of service members with TBI.  The bill contains two key provisions of interest to BIAA:

• Implementation of an objective, computer-based assessment protocol to measure cognitive functioning both prior to and after deployment in order to improve the screening process for TBI in soldiers deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Establishment of a Traumatic Brain Injury Family Caregiver Personal Care Attendant Training and Certification Program, which would train and certify family caregivers of TBI patients as personal care attendants, enabling them to provide quality care at home while also qualifying for compensation from the VA.

Note:  The legislation specifies that the curricula for the TBI Family Caregiver Personal Care Attendant Training and Certification Program “shall incorporate applicable standards and protocols utilized by certification programs of national brain injury care specialist organizations.”
 
BIAA supporters can take two key actions to support this bill:
 
1 - Initiate a letter-writing campaign as soon as possible generating short notes from brain injury advocates across the nation thanking Senator Clinton for introducing this bill and for her leadership on brain injury issues. Click here for a sample thank-you letter to Senator Clinton that can be used by brain injury advocates. (Word Doc)
 
2 - Encourage brain injury advocates to write to their Senators and encourage them to   cosponsor the Heroes at Home Act of 2007. Click here for a sample letter that can be used by brain injury advocates to ask their Senator to cosponsor the Heroes at Home Act of 2007. (Word Doc)