ACA Working to Ensure that Amputees are Not Left Behind in Health Reform

One of the biggest challenges and opportunities for the US Congress this year is their attempt to reform our healthcare system in order to provide access to the uninsured and to improve and enhance the availability of care and delivery systems for all Americans.  The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) feels strongly that any healthcare reform proposal that is aimed at true reform

must address the healthcare needs of people with limb loss.  

In order to ensure that the needs of amputees are being heard, the ACA launched a legislative initiative around healthcare reform this year.  We have been meeting with congressional offices for the past six months.  We have participated in several coalitions aimed at advancing the needs of people with disabilities within the reform debate.  We have submitted comments and letters on the various proposals and bill drafts.  We have been working with your activists to hold in-district meetings to raise awareness around health reform, as well as to build support for our prosthetic parity bill.  We have sent action alerts to mobilize our activists to make calls and send e-mails.  Recently we participated in several national call-in days harnessing the activism of the disability community to flood the capital switchboard with calls and get our message through. 

There has been some great progress already.  The current drafts include insurance market reforms prohibiting pre-existing health condition exclusions as well as restrictions to prohibit the use of health status in determining premium rates.  They also prevent the imposition of annual and lifetime insurance caps and create limits on out of pocket spending.

Congress has also been working to create a more comprehensive category of health disparities which would include people with disabilities.  The work that is being done around health disparities is aimed at developing innovative research and creating strategic initiatives to prevent disability-based disparities in care such as educational campaigns to help screen low-income patients to ensure early diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) in order to decrease amputation rates and the inclusion of individuals with disabilities in all data collection and reporting mechanisms in order to identify access issues and develop appropriate standards of care and treatment. 

Part of the goal of the healthcare reform process in Congress is to create minimum standards of coverage for any plan that is developed as part of either a new exchange market or a public option.  The ACA and several of our partners have been working to ensure that the standards include specific language to provide a full complement of durable medical equipment (such as wheelchairs), prosthetics, orthotics (DMEPOS) and other assistive devices. This is essential care to ensure that people with limb loss are given the care they need to reach their full potential. 

The ACA is also working to make sure that state benefit requirements are protected.  Many states have passed laws to ensure that gaps are not left in the coverage for people with disabilities by using their longstanding regulatory authority over health plans in the non-group and small group markets to enact critically needed benefit laws to protect their residents.   We are urging members of Congress to oppose any amendment that would preempt or roll-back these state benefit laws.  Such an amendment could lead to a drastic reduction in coverage.

Finally, we are also working in coalition to address the Medicare two year waiting period. While most of the 40 million Americans covered under Medicare are age 65 and older, nearly 6 million qualify because of severe and permanent disabilities. Unlike older Americans, who typically enroll and become eligible for coverage within months of turning age 65, disabled beneficiaries must wait two years before their coverage takes effect.  If people with disabilities are forced to wait up to two years to receive access to affordable coverage, they will continue to face insurmountable barriers to essential services and/or to be bankrupted by out-of-pocket expenses.

Almost two million Americans are living with limb loss or limb deficiency as a result of disease, trauma or birth defect.  As the emerging public health crisis of diabetes continues to escalate, so will the number of amputations.  It is essential that the needs of people with limb loss are taken into consideration as health care proposals are developed in order to ensure that they are able to lead independent, productive lives.

We need you to make your voice heard on the issue of healthcare reform!  You can call the capital switchboard at  (202)224-3121 and ask for your senators' and/or representative's office.   Our message is simple, "Please, include specific language around durable medical equipment such as prosthetic devices in the health care reform bill.  Help amputees remain employed, independent and productive!"   Take five minutes today to make a call or send an e-mail.  Click here to learn more.