Policy Corner: September 20, 2019

Senate and House Recognize National Concussion Awareness Day

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) thanks Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-N.J.) and Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) for their leadership in introducing a bipartisan resolution to recognize Sept. 20 as National Concussion Awareness Day. The resolution commends organizations and individuals that raise awareness of mild traumatic brain injury (also known as concussion or mTBI). Click to read the full press release.

Senate Subcommittee Marks Up Spending Bill for Labor-HHS

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Related Agencies marked up the spending bill for those agencies this week. The subcommittee recommended level-funded for the HHS Administration for Community Living (ACL) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Program, $3 million additionally for the ACL National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, and $3 billion increase for the National Institutes of Health, bringing the biomedical research entity’s budget to $42.1 billion. The subcommittee recommended $71 million over the current year for the BRAIN initiative. With regard to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Injury Center for Injury Prevention and Control, there were no funding reductions for existing programs. However, the subcommittee did not recommend funding for firearm injury prevention research or for a new drowning prevention program. More information will be forthcoming as the recommendations are analyzed.

Meanwhile, House Appropriations Chairwoman Nina Lowey (D-N.Y.) introduced the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2020, and Health Extenders Act of 2019,H.R.4378, to extend federal government through Nov. 21 in the event Congress fails to meet the Sept. 30 deadline for passing spending bills. The House passed the bill Thursday. The bill also extends several programs set to expire, including the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.

House Committee Passes Aging Bill with Screening for Fall-related TBI

The House Committee on Education and Labor passed an amendment, introduced by Rep. Fred Keller (R-Pa.), to the Dignity in Aging Act, H.R. 4334. The amendment added fall-related TBI to the list of conditions covered under the Older Americans Act (OAA). H.R. 4334 reauthorizes programs funded by the OAA, initially passed in 1965, that support a range of home and community-based services, such as meals-on-wheels and other nutrition programs, in-home services, transportation, legal services, elder abuse prevention and caregivers support.Rep. Keller’s amendment added fall-related TBI services to the OAA definition of “disease prevention and health promotion services.” The amendment also allows existing grant programs to cover TBI screening and efforts to raise public awareness.

Legislators Introduce Legislation to Support Direct Care Workers

Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), and Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) introduced legislation to support direct care workers. The Direct Creation, Advancement, and Retention of Employment (CARE) Opportunity Act, H.R. 4397, invests in training and employment advancement opportunities for America’s direct care workers.

Specifically, the Direct CARE Opportunity Act addresses the need for a well-trained direct care workforce by:

• Providing funding to 15 entities to invest in strategies to recruit, retain, and advance the direct care workforce pipeline;
• Implementing models and strategies to make the field of direct care more attractive, such as training, providing career pathways, mentoring, and allowing for local and regional innovation to address workforce shortages in a high-demand field;
• Encouraging retention and career advancement in the growing field of direct care; and
• Responding to the needs of a growing aging population and allowing older Americans, people with disabilities, and others who require direct care services to remain in their communities when possible.