ACA Adds Prosthetic Parity Reference Page to Website

The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA), Knoxville, Tennessee, has moved forward with its Access to Care and Health Promotion Initiative by adding a new Prosthetic Parity Reference Page to its website.

After identifying access to care and health promotion as the two most important concerns among people with limb loss, the ACA has given priority to its Access to Care and Health Promotion Initiative, an initiative the ACA feels that closely allies the group with state-specific advocacy and action groups. Together they are seeking to attain new legislative mandates that will secure appropriate levels of insurance coverage for rehabilitative care, prostheses, and prosthetic repair.

"The idea is to encourage these grassroots organizations by showing our support and offering them information and instruction on how to rally the support needed to effect change," says Leslie Duncan, MLS, ACA manager of government relations.

Now available at  www.amputee-coalition.org/aca_advocacy_stateparity.html, the ACA's Prosthetic Parity Reference Page allows anyone who is interested to view state-specific prosthetic parity legislation that has been passed and mandated, as well as other state-specific prosthetic parity legislation that is currently in the works.

"The idea of the new reference page," Duncan continues, "is to highlight all of the accomplishments made thus far and to show other start-up advocacy groups looking to effect change that the idea of the Access to Care and Health Promotion Initiative can be realized and that new state-specific prosthetic parity legislation can be achieved.

"Unfortunately, cuts in healthcare directly affect people living with limb loss by placing restrictions on the money available for state-level Medicaid programs and imposing limits on appropriate and essential rehabilitative care," Duncan says, adding, "Similarly, private insurance companies are placing limits and, in some cases, completely excluding access to essential assistive technologies that offer those with limb loss the opportunity to lead active, healthy, and productive lives. Removing these barriers is the essence of our mission."

For more information regarding these and other issues, please visit www.amputee-coalition.org/aca_advocacy.html, contact an ACA information specialist, or contact Leslie Duncan, 888.267.5669, ext 8115; email: lduncan@amputee-coalition.org

Table Of Contents - December 2004

	Delivered to America on the Wings of a Prayer How she came to us is as much an inspiration as her breathtaking performance in the 2004 Paralympic Games held in Athens, Greece. Jessica Long, America's youngest Paralympic athlete, can stand proud with a fistful of three gold medals and a heart full of dreams for a future beyond anyone's imagination. Today's Consumer
	Paralympics Shatters Records, Raises the Bar Feature
	Not All the Gold is in Medals Feature
	John Register: Sports and Kids Are His Life Feature
	Paralympic Academy Inspires Young Athletes and Coaches Feature
	Otto Bock Paralympics Repair Workshop: Technicians Find Creative Solutions for Athletes Feature
	ACA Adds Prosthetic Parity Reference Page to Website Association Spotlight
	Reimbursement Q&A Got FAQs?
	Charles Emerson, CO Profile
	Dreaming of Gold Perspective
	From the Editor: Human Spirit Shines at Paralympics Viewpoints