| Policy & Legislation Policy Corner |
(NOTE: TBI Act info has been moved to the issues and positions page) Brain Injury Association of America Health Care Reform Update This week Congress leaves for the July 4th recess in the midst of the Heath Care Reform debate. At this time, both the Senate and the House of Representatives is engaging in talks over draft proposals with the hopes of bringing one collective measure to a final vote this fall. BIAA will continue to monitor the situation closely and advocate for the provisions essential to the brain injury community. Senate Finance Committee The Senate Finance Committee, whose members have been negotiating a bipartisan proposal behind the scenes this week left Thursday for the July Fourth recess without a deal, although Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus said he has developed policy to pay for legislation that would cost less than $1 trillion over 10 years. According to Congressional Quarterly, Baucus said the bill’s cost would be offset, in part, by taxing some employer-sponsored health benefits, something that makes the White House and many lawmakers in both parties uneasy. Nonetheless, limiting the bill’s spending to $1 trillion is a significant step for the Finance Committee, which has been seen as the main arena for those hoping to get a bipartisan health care bill. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP) This week, the Senate HELP committee continued to mark up a draft health care overhaul bill drafted by its chairman, Sen. Edward Kennedy. On Wednesday, the HELP committee adopted 20 amendments to the bill that were considered noncontroversial. The amendments were adopted by voice vote. House Tri-Committee Proposal (Committee on Energy and Commerce, Committee on Education and Labor, Ways and Means Committee) This week, the House began debating their draft Health Care Reform bill that was developed by the chairmen of the three committees of jurisdiction. BIAA supports the Sports Legacy Institute’s Brain Donor Registry for Military Veterans Leading medical experts at the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI), a nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to advancing understanding of the long-term effects of brain trauma, announced Tuesday, June 23, 2009, that they have launched the SLI Military Living Donor Registry, a brain and spinal cord donation registry for active and veteran members of the United States military. In conjunction with The Boston University Center, the Sports Legacy Institute will compare findings from the brains of military personnel with those from their athlete program, which has signed up more than 120 donors in less than a year, and other brain banks around the world. Col. Michael S. Jaffee, national director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, said the Defense Department supported the spirit of the research and could assist in approaching active and retired soldiers to register for brain donation. BIAA enthusiastically supports this initiative and will continue to advocate on its behalf. For further reading, click on this link to view the New York Times article: (The official press release will be available shortly on our web site at www.biausa.org ________________________________________________________________________ June 26, 2009 (Word Doc) |
