NEWS
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE & SENATOR including RFK immediately letting them know how important it is to you, or the brain injury community, to continue providing grants for brain injury organizations serving this unique community; for the CDC to continue researching and education. To locate your state legislature, put in your address:
georgia.gov/contact-state-legislators
📲 Tag these official handles:
"Example: @rep_clyde @HHSgov The proposed changes to the HHS endanger the lives of brain injury survivors (including my husband and the 30000 newly injured a year in GA). @SecKennedy must meet with @biaamerica to discuss these funding cuts and protect the brain injury community. #TBI"
BIAA Action Alert:
Action is needed from ALL of us NOW. BIAA Requests Meeting with HHS Secretary After Leaked Budget Draft Proposes Cuts to Brain Injury Programs. The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has sent an open letter to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to request a meeting to discuss the proposed elimination, restructuring, and funding cuts of critical brain injury programs within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Read the full letter here.
Last week, a leaked HHS budget draft showed that the current administration seeks to deeply slash budgets for federal health programs by cutting discretionary spending for HHS by approximately one-third. Among the proposed cuts are several critical brain injury programs within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including:
How Can You Help?We won’t sugarcoat this: Secretary Kennedy’s proposed funding cuts would be devastating for the brain injury community, rolling back decades of progress America has made towards treatment and prevention of brain injury, and abandoning the people who rely on these programs. We need all hands on deck as we advocate for these critical programs to remain funded:
Post to X:
@rep_clyde @HHSgov The proposed changes to the HHS endanger the lives of brain injury survivors (including my husband and the 30000 newly injured a year in GA). @SecKennedy must meet with @biaamerica to discuss these funding cuts and protect the brain injury community. #TBI
georgia.gov/contact-state-legislators
📲 Tag these official handles:
- Twitter/X: @HHSgov and @SecKennedy
- Facebook: @U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- LinkedIn: @U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
"Example: @rep_clyde @HHSgov The proposed changes to the HHS endanger the lives of brain injury survivors (including my husband and the 30000 newly injured a year in GA). @SecKennedy must meet with @biaamerica to discuss these funding cuts and protect the brain injury community. #TBI"
BIAA Action Alert:
Action is needed from ALL of us NOW. BIAA Requests Meeting with HHS Secretary After Leaked Budget Draft Proposes Cuts to Brain Injury Programs. The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) has sent an open letter to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to request a meeting to discuss the proposed elimination, restructuring, and funding cuts of critical brain injury programs within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Read the full letter here.
Last week, a leaked HHS budget draft showed that the current administration seeks to deeply slash budgets for federal health programs by cutting discretionary spending for HHS by approximately one-third. Among the proposed cuts are several critical brain injury programs within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including:
- The CDC’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the federal government’s only entity solely focused on reducing injuries
- The CDC’s HEADS UP initiative, a cornerstone of concussion education and prevention
- The CDC’s Core State Injury Prevention Program, which supports TBI surveillance, funds local prevention efforts, trains frontline responders, and connects EMS, hospitals, schools, and Medicaid
- The CDC’s National Concussion Surveillance System, the only ongoing federal system tracking the incidence of concussion and brain injury across age groups
How Can You Help?We won’t sugarcoat this: Secretary Kennedy’s proposed funding cuts would be devastating for the brain injury community, rolling back decades of progress America has made towards treatment and prevention of brain injury, and abandoning the people who rely on these programs. We need all hands on deck as we advocate for these critical programs to remain funded:
- Flood HHS Secretary Kennedy’s Mentions: Add your voice to BIAA’s on Twitter/X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, and urge HHS Secretary Kennedy to meet with us as we work to protect critical services, programs, and research.
- Urge Your House Rep. to Sign Appropriations Letter: Contact your House Rep. and urge them to sign onto the bipartisan Luttrell-Deluzio Appropriations Letter, which calls on Congress to protect and sustain funding for vital brain injury programs in the upcoming federal budget.
Post to X:
@rep_clyde @HHSgov The proposed changes to the HHS endanger the lives of brain injury survivors (including my husband and the 30000 newly injured a year in GA). @SecKennedy must meet with @biaamerica to discuss these funding cuts and protect the brain injury community. #TBI
2024 Fairfax, Va. – In a victory for the brain injury community, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has recognized traumatic brain injury (TBI) as a chronic health condition.
CMS has added TBI to its list of chronic conditions for chronic special needs plans (C-SNPs) through its Medicare Advantage program effective for the January 2025 plan year. The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) will continue to fight to expand coverage for all types of brain injury with the ultimate goal of greater coverage across all forms of public and private insurance.
“We are thrilled that CMS agrees with our stance that brain injury is a chronic health condition, and has provided official recognition,” said Rick Willis, President and CEO of the Brain Injury Association of America. “This is an important first step in our fight to expand coverage for brain injury beyond acute care and helps us to make our case that brain injury should be treated by healthcare providers as a chronic condition like heart disease or diabetes.”
The addition of TBI to the list of chronic conditions was included in a rule published in the Federal Register earlier this year. Getting official recognition of TBI as a chronic condition from CMS is a significant step forward and provides validation that brain injury should be more broadly recognized as a chronic condition.
BIAA news
CMS has added TBI to its list of chronic conditions for chronic special needs plans (C-SNPs) through its Medicare Advantage program effective for the January 2025 plan year. The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) will continue to fight to expand coverage for all types of brain injury with the ultimate goal of greater coverage across all forms of public and private insurance.
“We are thrilled that CMS agrees with our stance that brain injury is a chronic health condition, and has provided official recognition,” said Rick Willis, President and CEO of the Brain Injury Association of America. “This is an important first step in our fight to expand coverage for brain injury beyond acute care and helps us to make our case that brain injury should be treated by healthcare providers as a chronic condition like heart disease or diabetes.”
The addition of TBI to the list of chronic conditions was included in a rule published in the Federal Register earlier this year. Getting official recognition of TBI as a chronic condition from CMS is a significant step forward and provides validation that brain injury should be more broadly recognized as a chronic condition.
BIAA news
August 2024. BIAG is pleased to announce our Resource Facilitation Program (RFP) is now rolling into year 4 of a 5 year grant *. RFP is a free service offered by the Brain Injury Association of Georgia (BIAG) to people with a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), their families, caregivers, and community to navigate medical and general life challenges after a TBI. RFP Director, Jane Jackson and Chantal Davis, Resource Facilitator, provide consultation and guidance to improve coping skills following TBI by connecting individuals with needed supports including information, education, and resources. Currently serving metro Atlanta counties. The RFP is made possible by an ACL *Grant awarded to the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund.
© Brain Injury Association of Georgia.
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5962 Zebulon Road PMB 220 Macon, GA 31210 Email: [email protected] Toll Free 1-800-444-6443 |