ACA ADVOCACY UPDATE

Week of May 25^th

 

From the States

 

▪ Bills passed in 6 states during the 2009 session (IA, VA, MD, AR, TX and MO).   

 

▪Bills are still in play in 6 states (PA, WI, IL, MI, NY, NC).

ü       MI:  Referred to the Health Policy committee.  Awaiting action.  Legislature meets throughout the year.

ü       IL Passed out of the House.  Passed out of the Senate committee.  The insurance lobby is pushing hard for caps.  Legislature meets throughout the year.

ü       PA: Referred to the Health and Human Services committee.  Awaiting action. Legislature meets throughout the year.

ü       WI: Introduced 4/27. Legislature meets throughout the year.

ü       NY: Referred to the insurance committee.  Trying to work with sponsor to coordinate a day in Albany to jump start the efforts. Legislature meets throughout the year.

ü       NC: Still discussing including language in another bill.  They adjourn in July. 

 

▪ The sessions in adjourned in 6 states without passing parity into law (AL, CT, MN, NE, ND, UT).   

 

ü       AL: Never moved out of committee.  The legislature adjourned May 15^th.

ü       CT: We worked to revise the language several times.  Action was not taken before they adjourned. 

ü       MN:  Introduced 5/11.  The legislature has adjourned until Feb 4, 2010/

ü       NE: Died in committee. 

ü       ND:  Passed the Senate.  Died in the House.

ü       UT: Passed in the House.  Died before being voted on in Senate.

 

▪ We are working to organize meetings and calls to pull together a plan of action in each of these states building towards re-introduction in 2010.  We are also working on identifying and cultivating local coalition partners. 

 

▪ We are working to get legislation introduced in 2010 in 7 states (AZ, OH, ID, NC, GA, KS, KY).

 

▪  The ME bill to remove the microprocessor exemption from the existing parity law was carried over for the 2010 special session.  Morgan traveled to Augusta on May 26^th to meet with local leaders and activists to start the planning process. 

 

▪ Two bills are currently being studied (TN and WA).

ü       TN:  Tabled for study over the summer and debate in the 2010 session.

ü       WA:  A study bill was introduced.  We are waiting for the analysis.

  

ON THE HILL --- Parity

▪  The House re-introduced the federal parity bill last week (HR 2575).  Authored by Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ), sponsors include Representatives George Miller (D-CA), Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), Todd Platts (R-PA), Joe Sestak (D-PA), and Al Green (D-TX). 

 

▪ We are meeting with targeted members of the Ways & Means, House Education & Labor and Energy & Commerce committees to secure additional co-sponsors and push for inclusion of assistive devices within healthcare reform.

 

▪ We did a hill drop with the parity one pagers last week to targeted offices from the Ways & Means and Energy & Commerce committees.

 

▪ We are also reaching out to past sponsors to push for them to sign on to the 111^th version. 

 

▪ We are continuing our in-district push.   We developed a kit and materials for the Memorial Recess.

 

▪  We are continuing to work with Senator Snowe’s office to get the bill introduced in the Senate.  The ACA is in a meeting on Friday, May 29th with her staff.

 

HEALTH CARE REFORM

 

▪ The ACA submitted comments regarding the Senate Finance Committee’s set of recommendations regarding policy options for health care coverage contained in the document Expanding Health Care Coverage: Proposals to Provide Affordable Coverage to All Americans.  In summary, the ACA is supportive of the recommendations regarding individual and small group market reform.  These improvements to the private health insurance market will have significant positive implications on the ability of all Americans to access affordable health insurance regardless of their health status.  We also strongly support the recommendations regarding Medicaid, including recommendations that serve to eliminate the two year waiting period for disability coverage and inclusion of disability status as a category for purposes of measuring health disparities.

 

The ACA is deeply concerned, however, with the limited scope of the benefit package that would be available under the Health Insurance Exchange.  Based on the document released by the Committee, there is a complete absence of any benefits related to rehabilitation therapies and related services (in both the inpatient and outpatient settings) as well as durable medical equipment, orthotics, prosthetics (DMEPOS) and other assistive devices.  

 

ü       Click here to read the ACA’s comments to the Expanding Health Care Coverage: Proposals to Provide Affordable Coverage to All Americans proposal: http://www.amputee-coalition.org/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=1115&z=3.

 

▪ The ACA recently sent comments to the Senate HELP Committee staff, Chairman Kennedy and Ranking Member Sen. Enzi on the topic of health disparities and people with limb loss.  The ACA is urging Senate leaders to ensure that health care reform will eliminate the disability-based health disparities faced by the more than 54 million Americans with disabilities, including the almost two million people with limb loss.

  Research shows that individuals with disabilities experience a lower rate of education, and employment, and a higher rater of poverty when compared to non-disabled persons. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) reports that private health insurance is less available to people with disabilities. Two Surgeon Generals’ reports have called attention to the need to address disability-based health disparities in access to clinical care, prevention and wellness, and public health services.  

 

The main cause of acquired limb loss is poor circulation in a limb due to arterial disease, with more than half of all amputations occurring among people with diabetes mellitus.  Today, diabetes is much more common in African Americans,  Hispanic/Latino Americans, and American Indians/Alaska Natives.   It is estimated that more than 75 percent of the amputations caused by diabetes complications might be prevented.  Proper testing and treatment must be available in order to prevent both primary and secondary amputation. 

 

Non-white, low-income patients without commercial insurance are more likely to delay diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease (PVD), which often results in amputation of the lower limbs. 

 

In spite of the startling evidence of the disability-based health disparities and the inherent costs to treat preventable conditions, current federal law does not consider individuals with disabilities a “medically underserved population” and fails to recognize disability-based health disparities under any federal program that addresses other health disparities. Health reform must fix this injustice.

 

ü       Click here to read the ACA's letter to Chairman Kennedy, Sen. Enzi and the HELP staff: http://www.amputee-coalition.org/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=1117&z=40.