Policy Corner: July 15, 2022
Categories: Policy Corner Archives
House Appropriations Committee Advances Spending Bills
The House Appropriations Committee released summaries of six appropriations bills addressing fiscal year (FY) 2023 spending that are expected to be considered by the full House next week. The House Appropriations Committee is working to move spending bills in the coming weeks with a goal of bringing as many to the House floor as possible before the August month-long recess. These first six bills do not include the Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Related Agencies spending bill that contains proposed funding for brain injury, education, disability and health programs.
On June 30, the House Appropriations Committee did approve recommendations from the subcommittee for FY 2023 funding for HHS that includes $4 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Injury Center to conduct the National Concussion Surveillance System and $1.297 million in additional funding for the Administration for Community Living (ACL) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) State Partnership Program grant program. The Committee also recommended an additional $1 million for the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) program. Report language included for HHS would urge the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to evaluate several aspects of the Medicare Advantage program (MA), including to assess MA enrollees’ access to long-term acute care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and substance use services, and by looking at MA plan prior authorization policies and network adequacy.
BIAA Urges House and Senate Leaders to Invest in Understanding Long COVID
This week, the Brain Injury Association of American (BIAA), along with 74 other organizations, joined the American Academy of Neurology in urging the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee leadership to convene hearings with regard to Long COVID, such as unifying definitions and language; research, data collection, and surveillance; patient diversity in research; mitigating disparities in care; defining outcomes; educating medical professionals and patients; and the development of guidance for clinical treatment and care coordination across primary care and several specialty providers. According to one study cited in the letter, one-third of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 developed psychiatric or neurologic disorders within six months, including depression, anxiety, stroke, and dementia.
Several bills have been introduced in Congress that focus on these themes including, the Cures 2.0 Act (H.R. 6000); the COVID-19 Long Haulers Act (H.R. 2754); the CARE for Long COVID Act (S. 3726); the TREAT Long COVID Act (H.R. 7482/S. 4015); and the Brycen Gray and Ben Price COVID–19 Cognitive Research Act (H.R. 7180/S. 4014), which was recently reported favorably by the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.
BIAA Supports Timely Access to Care Act
On June 27, 2022, members of the Coalition to Preserve Rehabilitation (CPR) of which the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is a member of the CPR Steering Committee, wrote to House and Senate leadership in support of H.R. 3173 and S. 3018, the “Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act.” The legislation reforms the use of prior authorization in the Medicare Advantage (MA) program to help protect patients, including those in need of rehabilitative care, from unnecessary delays in care due to the overuse and misuse of prior authorization in MA. The bill would streamline and standardize the use of prior authorization in many situations and provide much-needed transparency for rehabilitation patients in the MA program.
Housing and Services Resource Center Releases Video About Disability Information Access Line
The Housing and Services Resource Center (HSRC) created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released a new video about the Disability Information Access Line (DIAL), which can help people with disabilities to find vaccine locations, make appointments and arrange for transportation. Trained staff at DIAL can also help people with disabilities track down community supports to help with independent living, such as services that help with health care benefits, financial assistance, housing, food and more. This informational video gives an overview of DIAL in the housing, health, and other sectors, especially professionals working with people with disabilities. You may view the new video here.