Brain and Spine Injury Law Blog : Brain and Spine Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Tim Titolo Law Office : Personal Injury & Wrongful Death : Car, Truck, and Motorcycle Accident: Las Vegas, Nevada

Brain Injury Association of America notes The House of Representatives is set to vote on the Senate health care reform bill at the end of this week.

Call Your Representative NOW – The House will Vote on Health Care Reform this Week!

The House of Representatives is set to vote on the Senate health care reform bill at the end of this week. If the measure fails, the hope of health care reform will likely vanish for this year and maybe even for years to come.

Even though the House and Senate have both passed their versions of health care reform, the only way forward for the bill is for the House to approve the Senate version.

Your voice matters now more than ever. Call TOLL FREE 1-888-876-6242, if you don’t know who your representative is, click here.

Tell your representative that you are a constituent that is concerned about health care reform.  Specifically, people that have sustained brain injuries need health care reform because:

• Millions with health insurance are now at the mercy of insurance companies that charge premiums beyond affordability.  The legislation would limit these increases.
• Many with insurance find that it won't cover them when they get sick - even after they have paid premiums for years.  The legislation will ban denials based on pre-existing conditions in children and adults.
• Patients who reach their lifetime insurance cap after a catastrophic injury or illness will be able to continue treatment in order to regain functionality and have a better chance of returning to work or school.  The bill will eliminate lifetime insurance limits.

AND...

Investing money now will save the government millions of dollars later when the private insurance companies are required to take responsibility for the premiums they collect instead of turning individuals facing catastrophic injury or illness away to rely on public plans and ultimately, the American taxpayers.

Some representatives in the House are debating on whether to vote for or against the bill. Regardless of how they voted in the past, many are still waying their options.  This measure is vital to the brain injury community, and we need your help to ensure that people with brain injury gain access to the care that they need and deserve!  CALL NOW!

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Registration • Schedule• Hotel & Travel • Planning Committee • Exhibitors • Sponsors

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BIAA Unveils 2010 Legislative Fact Sheets

On March 3, 2010, BIAA made available its 2010 legislative fact sheets. The fact sheets outline the agenda for this year including, access to care for both civilian and military populations, TBI Act and research funding, TBI Act reauthorization, caregiver assistance, and support for the Congressional Brain Injury Task Force is now available on our home page!

Brain Injury Awareness Day 2010

Don’t forget that this year’s Brain Injury Awareness Day on Capitol Hill is set to take place on March, 17, 2010. 

Below is the schedule of events for the day:

10:00 AM – 1:00 PM - Brain Injury Awareness Fair, First Floor Foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building

2:30 PM – 4:00 PM - Briefing: “From the Playground to the Pros: A Heads-Up on

Concussion”, Capitol Visitors Center – Congressional Meeting Room South

5:30 PM – 7:30 PM - Reception Celebrating Brain Injury Awareness Month, First Floor Foyer of the Rayburn House Office Building

Hope to see you there!

Health Care Reform Update

House leaders this week prepared a schedule to bring health care reform to a vote before Congress adjourns for its two-week spring recess, which begins on March 26, 2010. BIAA continues to advocate for provisions important to the brain injury community and will alert grassroots advocates if action is necessary.

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The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) asked me to pass this on.  Programs by the BIAA are always top notch.  I have spoken at numerous conferences over the years and served on the Executive Planning Committee for the past two years for the Las Vegas Conference for Lawyers.

The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) invites you to its 2010 Brain Injury Business Practice College. The 2010 conference will offer sessions on:

• Understanding health care reform: threats and promises
• Leadership: characteristics and development
• Learning to use the latest in social media to market your organization
• Governance: principles of transparency
• How to increase your company's market share

Last year's attendees said:

• "This is the #1 conference I attend all year - very helpful because of the sharing nature of the conference."
• "Very topical info - what's new in brain injury, rehab, healthcare, Congress, CARF and more."

Click Here to Register.

Space is limited. Don't miss out on the 2010 Brain Injury Business Practice College.

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The Brain Injury Association of America has long been a leading advocate for victims of brain injury.  I have been fortunate over the past few years to serve on the executive planning committee for the annual Brain Injury Conference in Las Vegas.  The BIAA's mission is to educate.  In that context, the BIAA offers plaintiff and defense lawyers education into the realities and truths of brain injury from both sides of the aisle, so to speak.

The conference is but one tool used by the BIAA in Creating a better future through brain injury prevention, research, education and advocacy.

Founded in 1980, the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) is the leading national organization serving and representing individuals, families and professionals who are touched by a life-altering, often devastating, traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Together with its network of more than 40 chartered state affiliates, as well as hundreds of local chapters and support groups across the country, the BIAA provides information, education and support to assist the 3.17 million Americans currently living with traumatic brain injury and their families.
 

 www.BIAA.org 

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The sad fact is that most attorneys, even those holding themselves out as "personal injury" lawyers, do not have the skill or knowledge to appreciate and handle traumatic brain injury cases.

The good news is that as neuroscience and neurolaw advance, many more attorneys are getting education they need to handle these matters.  This is due, in large part, to the work of the Brain Injury Association of America, North American Brain Injury Society, state and other organizations holding continuing education conferences.

I came across an interesting article that had this to say:

An increasing number of Attorneys specializing in Traumatic Brain Injury arising out of motor vehicle accidents, slip and falls, closed head trauma, and blunt head trauma are becoming aware of the concurrent hormonal deficiencies that impede rehabilitation by their affect on psychological, physiological, and physical functioning (see also Heart Attack).

Many are receiving additional training in the area of Interventional Endocrinology to give them the advantage of understanding that head trauma has a two-phase insult on the body. The first: an acute phase, is associated with the gross manifestations of the injury (loss of consciousness, amnesia, cognitive impairment, fatigue, mood changes, and structural damage to the brain) and a second: the delayed phase, leading to progressive loss of one or more hormones within 3 months of the injury. Many times, the first phase is so subtle that the recognition of the second phase is significantly delayed or ignored.

The trauma can be mild, moderate, or severe and still cause the brain's ability to regulate important, life-maintaining, hormones to fail.

Read more here.

So lets keep up the good work!

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After legislation to reauthorize the Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Act successfully passed by Congress last week, the bill still needs to be considered by the President for his signature into law. The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) anticipates this consideration will occur in the very near future.

This week saw major activity occur on H.R. 5613, legislation recently introduced which would place a moratorium until March 2009 on seven Medicaid regulations issued by the Department of Health and Human Services. On Wednesday, the bill was unanimously approved by the full House Energy and Commerce Committee, setting up a potential veto showdown with the White House. BIAA has strongly endorsed this legislation and submitted an official letter of endorsement to the bill’s sponsors, Rep. Dingell (D-MI) and Rep. Murphy (R-PA), last week.

Also this week, The Rand Corporation published an important comprehensive study of the mental health and cognitive needs of U.S. servicemembers returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. This groundbreaking study - which focuses specifically on the post-deployment health-related needs and economic costs associated with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression and TBI - estimates that 320,000 servicemembers may have experienced TBI as a result of recent combat operations.

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