Legislative Update
Sarah D'Orsie of the Brain Injury Association of America has asked me to post this latest legislative update:
On Wednesday, October 7, 2009, the House and Senate Armed Services Committees announced that they had reached an agreement on a conference report to H.R. 2647, the Fiscal Year 2010 National Defense Authorization Act.
In a major victory for the brain injury community, the report included an amendment that authorizes the Secretary of Defense to carry out a pilot program for providing cognitive rehabilitation therapy services under TRICARE. BIAA worked with the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force to preserve its status as part of the final conference report. We are thrilled to have contributed to this important step towards providing better access to care for returning service members.
A link to the full text of the amendment can be found below:
http://www.biausa.org/elements/policy/cognitive_rehabilitation_ndaa_letter.pdf
Health Care Reform Update
This week the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) delivered their estimate of the Senate Finance Committee health care reform package. The bill scored under the $900 billion goal and would reduce the deficit by more than expected while covering millions more of the uninsured. (CQ)
With this news providing momentum, the Senate Finance Committee is expected to vote on October 13, 2009 to clear the bill. A final vote in the Finance Committee will open the door for negotiations to begin on melding that draft with the one previously approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Once that process has been completed, the final bill may be considered by the full Senate as early as the week of October 19, 2009.
