Virginia Pulls Out All the Stops
By Morgan Sheets  On January 24, amputees from across the state of
Virginia visited the capitol to meet with lawmakers to urge them to
support Senate Bill 645. SB 645 would require that prosthetic care
be covered on par with other medical services. The lobby day was
part of a series of events to support this legislation.
The bill was heard by the Commerce Committee on January 28. An
amendment was added to require that the state employee health
benefit plan also be required to cover prosthetic care. The bill
will now move on to the Senate Finance Committee.
It has been a long road to put this bill before the state
assembly. Senator Patsy Ticer introduced the bill in 2007. It was
referred to a special commission that is charged with reviewing all
proposals that mandate health benefits. They held a hearing in
September. More than 50 people from across the state came out in
support of prosthetic parity.
The legislation was also analyzed by several government
agencies. In the end, the reports agreed that the bill was not only
low cost, but would also result in savings to the state and
insurance companies by preventing lost wages and secondary
conditions.
Very few bills pass out of the special commission, but
Virginia's passed in November. Originally an opponent to the parity
legislation, Chairman Lee Ware changed his vote after reading the
reports and hearing from hundreds of supporters throughout the
state.
There are hundreds of people in Virginia who are going without
the care they need because of the restrictions on prosthetic care.
The ACA is committed to doing everything it can to pass this
bill.
Morgan Sheets is the national advocacy director for ACA's
Action Plan for People with Limb Loss (APPLL) initiative. She can
be reached at APPLL@amputee-coalition.org. For
more information, visit www.amputee-coalition.org/advocacy/index.html 
Table Of Contents - March 2008
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